


Space Cowboy

by Speary



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Astronaut!Castiel, Astronaut!Sam, Big Bang Challenge, Bisexual Dean Winchester, DCBB, Destiel - Freeform, Leviathans, M/M, Mars, Sharing a Bed, Sort of Canonverse by the end, astronaut!dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 21:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21260150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speary/pseuds/Speary
Summary: A portal showed up near the space station Calliope, signaling the beginning of an adventure that would span worlds. When Sam and Dean Winchester’s spaceship, the Impala, is pulled through the portal, seemingly disappearing forever, it becomes the mission of one risk-taking Commander Castiel Novak to find the Winchesters and their ship, fight Leviathans, and bring them home from a Mars that is not like the Mars they thought they knew.





	1. Space Cowboys

**Author's Note:**

> There are so many people to thank. First, thank you to the DCBB mods that have made this all possible. Muse and adiamond have offered so much support and understanding through what was a somewhat difficult posting cycle. Let's just say a natural disaster almost got this postponed by a month. My marvelous beta [Alison](http://partyof3blog.tumblr.com/) made everything in this story better and actually readable. She is a story hero and has always made me feel better about the words I slap down for you all. Lastly, I owe a mountain of thanks to whichstiel, who has created the finest art this side of anywhere. She made miracles happen with cut paper and cleverly positioned lighting. She's amazing, and I hope you all give her some love for her work on these pieces. You can see her art embedded within this fic and also at the following links: [Ao3 Art Masterpost](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184946) and [Tumblr Art Masterpost](https://whichstiel.tumblr.com/post/188607501325)
> 
> Thank you all so very much for reading and commenting and making this little writer happy. You're all the best.

Cas sat at the porthole of the space station, Calliope, staring out at the orange tear in space. Charlie had just gone to sleep on schedule, and he should too. He had too much to think about though with the rescue looming in his near future. 

"Get some sleep," Benny, the gruff, Creole said as he took a seat next to Cas.

"What about you?" Cas asked.

"I've got another eight hours then shut-eye." He stretched out long, rolling his shoulders as he did so. "Charlie said she was having second thoughts on your behalf."

"She's always worrying about me. I told her I'm committed." Cas laughed, a low rumble. "She told me I should be committed for doing this too."

"Sounds like Charlie."

They both shared a quiet laugh then went back to staring at the phenomenon. Cas finally broke the silence. "Kevin's convinced it's a portal. He's never been wrong about anything as long as I've known him."

Benny hummed a little in agreement. "Still a big risk. I mean, he didn't exactly figure out how you’d get back or even where it would take you."

"True, but he did say it wouldn't be the thing to kill me, maybe the place it ends at might, but not the portal."

There was a long silence after that. "Why do it, Cas? You don’t even really know either of those boys."

And this was true. Despite the fact that Cas had been going out on missions for at least as long as Sam and Dean Winchester, he had never had more than a formal conversation with either of them. He'd seen them in passing when they were both running missions out of Houston. He'd learned a fair amount of information about the older Winchester, Dean, but whenever the opportunity arose for him to actually meet the man in a setting that wasn’t all business, something always got in the way.

Dean had flown more missions than anyone in his field. Sam was a close second since most of Dean's missions included Sam. Cas was not far behind them in the number of missions he'd flown. He was currently on mission number 22. Dean and Sam had flown their 30th and 25th, respectively. Then the portal took them. 

"Cas?" Benny set a gentle hand on his arm. "Ain't no one here gonna think less of you if you change your mind. Dean's my best friend and you don't see me flying off into that thing."

"Losing the Winchesters would be a hell of a loss. I want to do this." Cas stared out at the portal. Black masses swarmed around the orange tear. "I've always wanted to see new places, discover new territories. This is an opportunity."

"Maybe. Even still, you can change your mind. Just know that."

Cas stood and stretched out as much as he could. The ceilings were low at this end of the station. "I'm gonna get some shut-eye."

"I'll have the team stock your vessel before you go and see you off too. Rest well my friend."

Cas gave him a little nod. "Will do."

Cas dreamed of the lectures and information that Kevin had put together in the briefing. He ran through all of the scenarios in his sleep. Kevin believed that the portal could take them to another dimension or to a far off galaxy. He didn't accept that it would move them through time as he completely dismissed the idea of time travel being possible.

Cas dreamed of other things too, of the dashing commander of the Impala, of his bright green eyes, and his slightly stubbled jaw. It was rare that Cas took the time to note someone's physical appearance, but even in passing, Dean Winchester was worthy of note. 

Dean's last mission was supposed to be simple, restock and refuel the Calliope. Cas had done it himself many times. A few days after they arrived at the Calliope, the portal appeared. Benny had described it as a slowly appearing tear. Then, Benny added the information about the black movement around the tear, the bigger mystery.

Even Kevin couldn't figure out what the blackness was. They'd started calling it, the ooze, the stuff, black gold, Texas tea, and any number of other things. Cas referred to it as the Leviathan once in a meeting and that name stuck more than the rest.

"Wake up lazy bones!" Charlie was right in his face.

"You are evil. Pretty sure I don't like you," Cas grumbled.

"Lies. You love me," Charlie sing-songed.

"Get me coffee. It might be my last cup." He had intended it as a joke and as a means of getting her out of his space. Instead, it upset her. She turned away, but not enough to keep him from seeing the lone tear that slipped free. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I didn't mean…"

"No, it's just me. Don't want this to be your last cup of coffee. This coffee is shit. You deserve a better last cup." She turned back with a quick swipe at her eyes and a smile. 

"They should have sent me the good stuff. Stingy bastards." Cas grinned at her and got up. "Guess I better come back then, give 'em a piece of my mind."

"Guess you better." Charlie pulled him into a hug. “Benny and I looked over the supply list. You should be set for a month. I know it's not much, but we don't want to weigh you down too much."

"No, a month is good, real good." Cas waved her out of the room to change. He'd be wearing the flight suit, but under that he wanted fresh underclothes.

He thought back on the plans made in Houston, on the extra effort that Kevin had made to help him. He hoped it would be enough.


	2. Houston, Eight Months Ago

"Cas, briefing room, now," Gabriel snapped him out of his thoughts. "Get up!" Gabriel was already heading out the door of the lab. He was abrupt often, but this was extreme even for him. Cas followed him. Gabriel was the mission commander. He directed all of the teams that flew out of Houston.

"What's going on?" He asked as he caught up to Gabriel, who was nearly jogging.

"It's the Impala," Gabriel said, out of breath. "She's disappeared."

"What, what?" 

"I know. It doesn't make sense. I already have Kevin on it." Gabriel pushed open the door to the briefing room.

“We all here now?” one of the generals asked the room. Cas looked from one general to the next, noting their ranks. There was more high-ranking military in this room than he was used to seeing in one place at the same time. 

Everyone took seats around the room. The tables were arranged in a large rectangle. Gabriel stood and turned on the large display. “Welcome, everyone. By now you’ve all heard about the events of the last twenty-four hours. With the exception of Commander Novak, I’d say everyone has at least received the initial briefing.” Gabriel looked to Cas and added a little under his breath, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you up to speed.”

Cas nodded and followed the images on the screen and the subsequent explanations. The Impala was docked with the space station Calliope. It was a mission that he was familiar with, as it was nearly his mission. Gabriel had decided to make some changes though. Gabriel played a video next. They were all directed to look past the Impala and Calliope to an area to the left of the screen. Cas knew that this was the direction leading toward Mars. If all went according to plan, he’d be flying that path within the next two years, in order to establish a colony there. It wasn't a sure thing, in fact he had lost some hope of getting that mission, but he wasn't ready yet to let the dream go.

“Look closely,” Gabriel directed. Then, the blackness of space grew bright as if a line of fire was burning in the midst of space. “Kevin has already begun running diagnostics.”

One of the generals interrupted, “What is it? What’s he figured out?”

“It’s not clear yet. He’s only had twenty-four hours with the data. Commander Lafitte sent back all that he had from Calliope.” 

The video stopped and Cas asked, “What happened to the Impala? You said it disappeared.”

“Yes, we have a video.” Gabriel opened another file and before he played it said, “I would like to make it clear that we did not instruct Commander Winchester to approach the phenomenon. At the time, our communications were down. We believe that the appearance of the phenomenon briefly disrupted our communications.”

The video played. Cas watched as the Impala detached from the Calliope and began a slow drift toward the phenomenon. He could see the Impala’s thrusters gently propelling the craft to the left. Cas looked up to the corner of the screen at the orange gash. Something had changed. “What are the black swirls around it?”

“We don’t know. They showed up not long after the phenomenon appeared. Kevin, I mean Dr. Tran, thinks that they are separate things,” Gabriel said as he circled the black swirls with a laser pointer for the rest to note.

“The term ‘separate things’ seems rather vague,” one of the generals said.

“It is,” Gabriel responded. “We’ve only been able to determine that the orange part of the phenomenon is putting out some considerable energy. The Impala gathered some data before the event. You can see that here.” Cas watched the probes emerge from the side of the vessel. They’d have sent the data back to Calliope immediately, and Calliope would have sent the data onward as well, just as quickly. Gabriel added, “I’m going to fast-forward a bit.” The video jumped ahead by twenty minutes. Apparently, they decided to send one of the crew out in a small pod to get a closer look.

“Why would they send someone out?” Cas asked.

“Commander Lafitte said that the Winchesters had determined that it was safe, but wanted to know what the phenomenon was. They couldn’t get the probes close enough, so they decided that Sam could go out safely. Unfortunately, Sam decided to get too close. See for yourself.”

The video followed Sam as he circled the Impala’s right flank. Despite knowing that something would go wrong, Cas still felt anxiety building in his stomach over what he was about to see. He liked the younger Winchester, despite only having a few encounters with him. Cas had actually gotten to meet Sam nearly a year ago while Dean was on a rare mission without his brother. In addition to the positive impression that Sam gave him, Cas knew from those that he worked with that Sam had a reputation for both bravery and kindness.

Sam moved away from the Impala and drifted toward the phenomenon. There had been audio between Sam and Dean that was now projected into the room. “Sam, don’t get so close. Use the probe from at least ten feet away.”

“I’m fine, Dean. I just need to get a little closer. There’s something moving.”

Cas could hear Dean’s breathing increase with his clear worry. “Sam, retreat! Sam! Sam!” Dean was in an immediate panic. Cas could see why. The blackness surrounding the phenomenon seemed to extend toward Sam and latch on, for lack of a better word. It was pulling him toward the light.

“Dean! I can’t...It’s got me! Shit!” The blackness seemed to stretch out into several long tentacles that wrapped around the pod. The tentacles pulled the pod toward the rift. The thrusters on the pod were working. Cas could see the pod straining against the tentacles in an effort toward breaking free. The effort didn’t save him. In seconds, the light flashed, and Sam was gone.

“Sam! Sam!” Then Gabriel cut out the sound. 

“What follows is a heated argument between Commander Winchester and Commander Lafitte. Dean decided to pursue his brother through what he described as a portal or gateway. He said that as it flashed, that he could see beyond it to another place. Commander Lafitte told him that he needed to wait for a directive before passing through the portal. Commander Winchester disagreed, claiming that Sam would run out of oxygen before they heard from Houston. In the end, he won the argument and approached the phenomenon with the Impala. Here is the video of her disappearance.”

Gabriel had allowed the video to silently play out behind him as he explained. He jumped ahead a little to the event. Cas noticed that the probes were still extended and likely broadcasting the details of what was about to happen to the Calliope. Black swirls stretched out from the phenomenon and began wrapping around the Impala just as they had before with Sam’s pod. The light grew bright, and then the whole ship was gone. Cas focused on the light this time though. And through it he saw what Dean saw. There was a planet, maybe. It was too fast, too obscured by the light. 

“Do we have any stills of what is behind the light?” Cas asked.

“We do,” Gabriel answered. “Here.” Gabriel dragged a new file to the screen, a still of the phenomenon as it engulfed the Impala. It was very clearly a planet, bright and shining with the light of a sun.

"This brings us to where we are now." One of the generals, a tall, imposing man, stood and walked to Gabriel's side. "When Gabriel contacted me with information on what had happened, I knew that this needed to be investigated and not solely by the private sector." Over the past couple of decades space travel had largely become big business and not solely the product of government work.

True, the government was still heavily involved. They had to be. Much had changed though in more recent years. Private citizens could now pay to fly beyond the atmosphere. Before it had been something for the very rich to do, but in recent years it had become something that was available to the only slightly upper class. And in time the middle class would find themselves in the vastness of space too.

For now there were "medical trips" that some took, believing that the exposure to low-gravity environments would cure them from everything under the sun. There were others that went on the pleasure trips that were similar to small cruise ships. They'd take a turn around the moon. Families would float together in zero gravity and pay too much for photos of it all before they returned.

The distant missions that Cas flew were not to places that the pleasure trips and medical trips flew. In time maybe that too would change, but for now, seven to eight months of space travel was too much for most civilians. Cas may have flown numerous missions but even he had only done the trip to Calliope four times. Each trip held a special place in his heart, because the Calliope was the space station located near Mars, the planet that Cas hoped to call home in the future.

The general was still speaking. "If this is a gateway to another world, we must do whatever we can to secure it, to keep an eye on what comes and goes from it. We also must keep this news from reaching anyone outside of this room."

"Except Dr. Tran," Gabriel interjected. "All of the information that you've received here is classified."

"What’s the plan?" Castiel asked.

"That's where you come in," the general said. "We are hoping to send you there to learn more about this gateway, where it goes, how it works. We’ll need to get more data, and Dr. Tran has asked for time to get some equipment together for the journey. We’ve granted his request for time."

Castiel nodded. He'd accepted more nebulous missions. This one at least sounded intriguing.


	3. Planet X

The landing had been rough. Castiel worried that the ship might not be functional enough to get airborne, let alone out of the atmosphere, when the mission was complete. He intended to exit the vessel immediately. First he needed to run scans for signs of nearby life and oxygen. 

Castiel glanced out the side window at their current landing spot. The land was all red dirt, and the area in front of the ship was a high jagged mountain. Castiel got up and peered out the other side porthole and saw a lot of wide open space. The land stretched out flat and red and somewhat barren. There were some trees in the distance that didn’t seem to match the landscape, redwoods tall and deep green. 

It was a miracle that he’d managed to gain control of the ship before hitting the mountainside. He hadn’t even clipped the trees as he came in. He did come down hard though, and the landing gear might need some repairs before he could take off for home once the mission was done.

Cas was called back by a familiar voice that came out of the onboard speakers. "Good morning Commander Novak."

"Good morning, Kevin." Castiel came back to his seat in the cockpit. Cas smiled toward the display that showed some of the scans already in progress. "How's it looking out there?"

"The air is breathable, comparable to our own on Earth." Kevin had spent part of the preparation time back in Houston perfecting an AI that could do his job from afar. As Kevin had said back home, 'It's not me, but it'll do.'

"Any damage to the ship?" Cas asked despite the fact that he already knew that there was.

"Yes. We appear to have picked up a passenger. The Leviathan, as you called it, have affixed themselves to the exterior of the vessel." The AI version of Kevin was a little clipped, a touch formal.

"What's it doing out there?" Cas tried to get a better view by craning his neck toward the porthole on the right. He hadn’t seen anything out there before, but the angle wasn’t the best. "Should I go out and investigate?"

"I would not advise that." There was a pause, as if Kevin was calculating some possibilities that might include death. "There is a lifeform approaching from the north. It is coming towards us at a high rate of speed."

"What is it?"

The pause before Kevin's answer was enough to make Cas move to another porthole. "It is a man on a horse." Another pause. Cas couldn't see much outside. The portholes all seemed to be aimed at just slightly the wrong area, and a dust storm blowing wildly outside didn’t help matters. Kevin interrupted his thoughts. "The man has a weapon. He has arrived."

Cas moved around from porthole to porthole. The Leviathan were oozing around the ship now. He watched the blackness stretch and reshape, like it was trying to adopt a form.

"What should we do?"

"Remain in the ship. It seems that everything outside is currently hostile."

"I mean, what do we do besides stay in here?" Cas growled out. "I can't stay in here forever. We have a mission."

"Now is hardly the time to consider a departure." Cas found himself missing the real Kevin. 

The sound of a gunshot could be heard outside the vessel. "What's happening?"

"The man has discharged his weapon on the Leviathan. It seems to have upset them."

"Upset who?" Cas asked.

"The Leviathan. They've started moving off the ship. They're moving toward the man."

Cas noticed that the darkness over the porthole had cleared. He looked out and saw what seemed to be a cowboy wearing a filthy red bandana over his face and a long black duster and cowboy hat. He was aiming his rifle at the black goo that slid along the sand, getting near him. The man kept his distance and kept occasionally firing on the creature.

The man glanced at the vessel and saw Cas. He winked. Cas shook his head. This man was insane. He seemed to be drawing the Leviathan away from the ship though. "I believe that you will need to prepare to leave the ship," Kevin said. "It is time to detach the AI system from the ship so that you can take me with you. Also, gather the supplies you'll need and the weapon."

Cas began doing what Kevin said. Most of his supplies were already in a large pack. He added the pistol and the additional taser-like weapon that Kevin developed. As the real Kevin had said, 'Sometimes you don't want to kill.'

The hatch could be opened from the inside or the outside if one had the code, so it came as some small shock as he approached the hatch to have it pop open.

The cowboy reached in to him and said, "Come with me if you want to live." His green eyes crinkled at the edges with what was surely a smile hidden beneath the bandana. Cas wasn't sure why, but he trusted him. He took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled free from the ship. 

The cowboy had pulled Cas up onto the hind end of the horse. Cas could do nothing more than cling to the man in front of him. There was no time for speaking as they rode fast from the ship. Castiel was already plotting his escape. Yes, the cowboy had seemingly rescued him, but the speed of the ride and the high anxiety that came with the escape from the Leviathan were keeping him on edge. They whipped into a new canyon that had lush vegetation flanking the ridges. The cowboy brought the horse to an abrupt halt in the midst of what looked like a hidden garden with a small stream. 

Castiel practically fell from the horse the moment that they stopped. The cowboy easily dismounted right after him. Cas scooped up a small handful of dirt that he intended to throw into the cowboy’s face if he decided to make a run for it. Then the cowboy pulled his bandana down, revealing a face that Castiel recognized. “Dean Winchester?”

“Commander Novak. Nice to finally meet you.” Dean bowed a little awkwardly.

“You’re alive,” Castiel said.

“Alive and kickin’,” Dean said as he led his horse to a nearby tree to tie it up to a low-hanging branch. “Sure got here fast. Just the travel time alone is six months. I figured it’d be longer. You all were pretty fast.”

“I left just as soon as Kevin gave us the all clear. He needed to process the data and put together some additional items for the journey. He wanted to be sure that we’d be able to deal with the Leviathan if they were hostile, but we didn’t have enough data on what they are.” Cas finally got his limbs working again after his rough dismount and walked to Dean’s side. “I guess Kevin’s calculations were correct on some things though. He studied the stills of the planet that we could see. He said that he thought he could mount a reasonable guess as to where you’d land. It helped that you kept your beacon running.”

Dean chuckled and headed toward a fallen tree near a stream. He motioned for Cas to sit with him. Once they were seated, Dean said, “I worried a little that someone would come through while I was away.”

“You don’t stay here?” Cas asked.

“No.” Dean’s whole body slumped a little. “I haven’t found Sam yet.”

“I was going to ask. He didn’t make it through the portal?”

Dean looked back up again. “No, he made it. Those gooey bastards were all over him, but they didn’t kill him. Guess they knew that he was their ticket to solid land.”

“Wait, he made it here?”

“Yeah, he did. We got through the portal, and I got him onboard. The black goo was all over the pod and then it was all over Sam when he got out of the pod. It covered him then it ran off of him and regrouped at the back of the ship. I couldn’t deal with either my brother or the, what’d you call it?”

“The Leviathan,” Cas supplied.

“Yeah, the Leviathan. I had to keep the ship from crashing. We had entered the atmosphere. I was coming in fast, so I guess the Leviathan thought that they needed to get away...with Sam. Once we got close enough to landing they took him in the pod that I’d just retrieved. I traced it, but they were gone. Pretty sure they jammed the signal.”

“Any signs that…”

“Sam was dead?” Dean interrupted. “No. And he’s not. He’s alive. I know it. I’d feel it if he was gone.” Dean whipped his hat off and roughly brushed the dust off the brim. “I saw the Leviathan six months ago. Thought I’d found Sam, but it was that bastard that took him.”

“What happened?” Cas encouraged.

“If they touch your skin, then they can take your form. They’re like something out of science fiction or a horror film. It tried talking to me like it was Sam. I fell for it at first, but something was really off. He didn’t seem happy to see me. He seemed scared. That’s not how it would have been if it really had been Sam.”

“How’d you know for sure though?”

Dean sighed and stood up, pressing his hat back onto his head. It was getting hot under the midday sun. Cas stood too. He could feel the sweat trailing down his back. “It’s gonna rain in a few minutes.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, it’s like clockwork here. No matter how hot it gets, there’s always rain in the afternoon. It’s kept them from being able to follow the tracks back to where I am.” Dean looked at him longer than should have been comfortable. “I knew it wasn’t Sam when he tried to attack me. He had a knife to my throat. He mocked me and shifted his appearance to mine. I shot him, and he shifted back to my brother’s form. I watched him bleed out. I also watched him regenerate, eject the bullets, and stand up for round two.”

Cas ran a hand through his hair and left it sticking out in every direction. Something in Dean’s look softened a little, the relaxing of his furrowed brow for one thing. “So there’s no killing them?”

“Not that I’ve found yet. The bullets slow them down, and so does intense physical damage, like burning them.” Dean let out a mirthless little laugh. “Nothing like watching your brother’s body burn or killing him repeatedly.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine.” Cas settled a hand on Dean’s shoulder and gave it a sympathetic squeeze.

Dean gave him a half smile and said, “It’s bad, but I’m gonna find him. When you get home, just make sure to tell them that we’re going to be fine here. Tell them not to send any help through the portal. It’s too dangerous.”

Cas let his hand drop, and Dean started moving deeper into the canyon. Cas followed him. Around the bend was the Impala, slightly hidden from anyone that would pass the canyon but not hidden well beyond that. 

“I’m not leaving you here. I have a mission too.” Cas ran a hand along the side of the ship in appreciation. It was a real beauty, and unlike all the other ships, the Impala was black. No one made spacecraft black. Most were white or occasionally silver. Cas’ ship was both white and silver. The Impala was designed for stealth, and yet there was never a need for that in the vastness of space.

“You can stay for a bit, gather data, but you really will be leaving without us.” Dean interrupted his thoughts.

“My mission was to retrieve the Winchesters, and that is exactly what I intend to do.”

Dean opened the Impala and motioned for Cas to climb aboard. The space inside was larger than his own ship. He felt a faint spark of envy course through him, and said aloud, “I really ought to complain about my ship’s lack of features.”

“She’s a beaut. I can’t believe I’ve been so lucky. She’s carried Sam and I through some very difficult situations.” He ran a loving hand along her side. “I’ve got some stuff from the town that you can change into. Since you’re here, you really should see the place.” 

Cas followed Dean to a trunk at the rear of the main cabin. Dean opened it, and motioned to the collection of what could best be described as western wear, vests, chaps, cowboy boots, and shirts. “Why the costumes?”

“I’m not sure about much here, but the people speak English and they’re all living like it’s the 1850s or something. There’s no cars, no tech, no modern hygiene, which is a grave disappointment.”

“Is this Earth?”

“My computers have not been able to figure that out. I’ve gathered intel from the locals, which I feed into the ship. Maybe now that you’re here, we can use the next couple of days to merge our data.” Dean winked as he said that.

Cas felt a slight heat fill his face and turned away. “I’m not leaving without you and Sam.”

“I heard you. We’ll see.” A rumble of thunder rolled outside. Cas dipped his head out the door to look. Dean squeezed into the space beside him and looked out too. “See, just like I said, rain.”

  
  


The storm was intense with giant glops of rain pelting the large front window of the ship. Cas watched the water in the nearby stream turn into something more like a river all brown and murky now. They didn’t talk much as Cas decided to change into some of the cowboy clothes. Dean had said that he’d be up front in the cockpit, updating his computer. 

“The clothes fit you good.” It was not really a question. Dean leaned into the window next to him. “The rain will stop soon, then we can head into town.”

“What’ll you tell people about me?” Cas asked.

“I’ll say I hired you to help me find my brother. I’ve told them the truth about me in a way.”

Cas laughed and said, “So you told them that you’re a spaceman that came to their planet with a creepy gooey killer in your wake?”

“Not quite. I told them that I was from a town called Lawrence, true, and that it was far from here. I told them that Sam and I encountered something in the prairie that tried to kill us. I even told them what it looked like and how it steals your form. I figured that they needed to know to be safe.”

Cas looked at him with concern. “They believed you?”

“Not at first, but then they saw one that came into town with my face. Of course I was already there with my face, so it was clear that either we were twins or my story was accurate.”

Cas stopped watching the rain and turned to Dean instead. They were close, but Dean didn’t seem to mind. “How’d you deal with it?”

“Shot it, a lot. Once it was down, some of the men in town gathered around to look at it. They saw the way it regenerated. Let’s just say that their minds were changed that day.”

“So I’m guessing you had to do more than just fill it full of lead this time.”

“Oh, yeah. We shot it up again, and then I got some guys to help me out. We hauled the thing way the hell out of town and dropped it in the old mine. Oh, this was after we set it on fire. Haven’t seen it back in the town, but frankly, it would have had quite a journey to make first.” Dean pointed out the window. “Look at that. Rain’s stopped.” 

Cas looked out the window at the crisp greens of the grass and the vibrant reds of the high canyon walls. It was beautiful here, wherever here was. “We gonna head into town then?”

“Yeah, we’ll need to buy you a horse too.” Dean had a little sack that he’d pulled out which jingled a little in his hand. “Got some metal in here that will pay for it. I do this weird thing where I bring coins up on each mission, then I give them to school kids when I return. I tell them that the coins made it almost all the way to Mars. They like having little things like that. Turns out the coins are well-liked here. They’re metals that are not easy to come by, I guess.”

“Well that was lucky.” Cas scooped up a cowboy hat and headed for the hatch. “When we get back, I’ll boot up Kevin, and share the data we have.”

“Kevin?” Dean asked. “Like Kevin Tran?”

“Yeah, he put together a little AI version of himself to help me along.” Cas reached down and grabbed his bag that contained Kevin and his assorted weapons. 

“That sounds like Kevin alright.” 

When they got to the horse, Dean got on with grace. He reached down and pulled Cas up behind him. It was not as graceful. Cas held on for dear life as they galloped out of the canyon. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to horses, and he worried a little over the prospect of having to ride one on his own when they came back.

The town, Noachis, was as Dean had described it. It was like something straight out of every wild west film he’d ever seen. Everything was made of rough-hewn dark wood. The town was pretty much just one strip of a dirt road. Cas could see houses scattered about in the distance, like everyone had just decided on various patches to settle without any grid or plan in mind. 

There was the proverbial saloon on the one end of the town and a church clear on the other, like opposing bookends. The middle buildings included a boarding house, general store, jail, bank, and barber’s shop among other things. Dean told him that there was a school outside of the town a bit. There was also a plan for a railroad station, since the tracks were coming to their town soon.

Most of the families were either farmers, cattle ranchers, or miners. And though the town itself seemed to be quite small, there were a fair number of people scattered around the region.

Dean walked the horse up to the hitching post and said, “Okay, time to dismount, compadre.”

“I’m just a little worried about the height.” Cas eased a little to the right and felt his body sliding a little more than he wanted. Suddenly he was on the ground on his ass. Dean was laughing. “You know what, rude!” Cas scurried back from the horse that had taken a noticeable step in his direction, like it wanted to step on him in this pathetic state.

“You gotta admit, it’s a little funny.” Dean was still laughing as he dismounted and tied off the horse to the hitching post. He pumped a little water into the trough in front of the post and gave his horse a pat. “Drink up, girl.”

Cas got up and spent a few moments trying to remove the dust from everywhere. “Shit.”

“You’ll never get it all off. Everything, everywhere is dusty. You get used to it.” Dean waved him along as he headed toward the saloon. “The stables are around back, but old Robert spends his days in here.”

“Old Robert?” Cas asked as he caught up with Dean. Dean was tipping his hat to those he passed.

“Yeah, he owns the stables and the horse that you’ll be riding in the near future.”

They entered the saloon through the swinging wooden doors. The smell of old liquor, sweat, and tobacco filled the space despite how open it was to the outside world. An old man was sitting at a large round table with some other men. All of them were laughing long and loudly at something the old guy had said. There was a piano playing in the corner, some jaunty tune. There were a few women and men too making the rounds with glasses full of liquor.

“Heya, Robert,” Dean said as he came to the table. He reached back and pulled a chair over, swiveling it around. He sat on it backwards.

“Well, hello yourself there Dean. You gonna buy an old man a drink or what?” Robert laughed again, and his table mates joined him.

Dean waved down a nearby woman that was carrying a tray with some shot glasses and a bottle of liquor. She came over, all smiles. “Let’s get a round of drinks here.” He waved at the whole collection of them. He pulled out some change and set it on the tray. The lady started setting drinks in front of everyone at the table.

“What about your friend there?” She nodded at Cas.

Dean turned to him and said, “Sit down Cas. Don’t be creepy.” Then to the lady he said, “Yeah, May, him too.”

Once Cas was seated she handed him a drink. “Thanks,” Cas said. May just smiled at him.

“Now Robert, I need to buy the most docile horse you’ve got.”

“Who’s the new guy?” Robert asked.

“This is Cas.” Dean nodded over his shoulder. “I’ve hired him on to help me find my brother. Figured two sets of eyes will get the job done faster.”

“And he ain’t got himself a horse?” Robert leaned around Dean and surveyed Cas with a squint. “You sure he ain't one of them gooey fellows?”

“He’s not. He helped me fight one though. He’s gonna be handy to have around.” Dean looked around the room. “Any of ‘em come in since the last time?”

“Not that I’ve seen.” Robert stood up suddenly. “Oh, you gotta see this.” He swayed a little and grabbed the chair for support. “Hey, Joe. We need to show Dean the experiment.” 

The bartender, Joe, nodded and disappeared through a curtain behind the bar. Dean helped Robert sit back down. “What’d you find?” Dean asked.

“You know how we got some of that black goo in a jar last time?” Robert looked much more sober all of a sudden.

“Yeah, you said it might be useful. I had my worries.” Dean settled a hand on him. “Tell me you all didn’t do something stupid.”

“Nah, boy. You’re gonna love this.” 

The bartender came back out to the table. Joe held a tray with a single jar on it. “Careful with it, you old drunk. Don’t want it slithering out.”

“You aren’t going to open it, are you?” Dean asked as he leaned back ever so subtly.

“Just watch,” Joe said. Joe set the tray with the jar on the table. He pulled a small vial from the pocket of his apron. He uncapped it and got close to the jar. “Found this out on accident when we were cleaning.” Joe unscrewed the jar, but kept his hand firmly on the top. The black goo writhed about in the jar. “Hold the bottom.”

Robert reached out and held the jar tight. Joe quickly moved the lid aside and poured a small amount of the liquid from the vial into the jar. The goo screamed.

“What the hell!” Dean got closer as Joe screwed the lid back on. Dean looked from Robert to Joe. “What the hell!”

The goo was still screaming. It flashed colors, like it was trying to morph into something else. The jar rattled violently in Robert’s grasp. Then the goo started sizzling and somehow disappearing.

Cas asked, “What’s happening to it?”

Robert answered, “It’s dying.” Then he turned to Joe. “You put too much in this time. It was just a drop last time.”

“Eh, good riddance.” Joe shrugged. 

Dean asked, “What was that stuff?”

“Borax,” Joe said.

“No way. It’s gotta be more than that.” Dean swiped his hand through his hair then replaced his hat. “Borax?”

“Yeah,” Joe started, “I was wiping down the counter in back with some of the Borax mixture we use for cleaning. The critter started jostling about in the jar, so I wondered what got it so spooked. I called Robert back and we put a drop of the stuff in the jar.” Joe was grinning now. “And well, you know the rest. Thought this might be good to know when you head out next time.”

Dean stood and clapped Joe on the back. “Well, hot damn! This might just be the best news I’ve gotten all year. I’m gonna add some of this here borax to some bullets.”

Robert got up then too. “We maybe already got started on that. Now let’s go get you fellas a horse.”

Robert set them up well. Cas had a docile horse, even if he still felt like he was moments from falling off with every easy step. Dean had a large sack of “borax bullets” strapped to his saddle. He also had some loose borax powder too. They talked about maybe slathering some on before any major encounter. Dean had also gone into the general store, where he bought some food and various items.

As they headed out of town, Dean took a turn back toward the camp. “Shouldn’t we be heading toward the hills there?” Cas asked.

Dean slowed up and rode alongside him. “We’ll go out early tomorrow. We need a full day to make it to the hills to camp. I also need to get our provisions ready.”

“Okay.” Cas rode along in silence for a few minutes then asked, “How will we know the difference between Sam and the Leviathan?”

“I’m guessing we borax anything that looks like Sam. Pretty sure Sam won’t mind.”

They both laughed a little. “Another thing?” Cas started. Dean hummed a little acknowledgement. “Where the hell are we? I mean, I never expected to land somewhere with humans or any sort of lifeform, yet here we are with a whole civilization.” Dean nodded. “And they speak English, Dean.”

“I know. I spent a fair amount of time puzzling on that myself. I ran the data through the Impala’s computers and got nothing that made sense.” Dean kicked up the pace a little.

Cas urged his horse to match Dean’s speed. His stomach tightened with the change. “We should run your data through Kevin. It might be able to do more than your computer. I know it’s unlikely, but the portal could have popped us back in time.”

“And knocked us back to Earth? Not sure that’s what’s happened. I mean, it didn’t look like earth when I was landing. It was redder. I assumed I was landing on Mars, but then there was an atmosphere and English-speaking people.”

“Did you ever ask them anything about the place or the date or anything like that?”

“The dates were all numbers, and the place names were towns. I asked about the planet’s name and got a funny look instead of an answer. Robert looked nervous when I asked him and settled a hand on his gun. I should try again now that they know me better.”

They finished the journey in silence. Cas pulled a bandana over his mouth and nose, worried that he’d breathed in enough dust to start a garden in his lungs. 

When they reached the camp, Dean dismounted swiftly, then came to Cas to help. He held the horse steady while Cas raised an unsteady leg over the back of the horse. He didn’t fall and counted that as a miracle. Dean walked the horse over to the tree where his horse was already nibbling at grass. 

They walked together to the Impala and cast off some of their outer layers. Cas let himself fall into one of the padded seats in the central cabin just as soon as he got into the ship. He pulled Kevin out of his pack and switched him on. “Hello Commander Novak,” Kevin’s voice came from the tablet.

Dean came to his side. “Holy hell, that’s Kevin.”

“Hello Commander Winchester. I’m happy to hear your voice.” 

Cas chimed in, “Finding Dean proved easy. We’re hoping to find Sam soon.” He looked to Dean then back at the tablet. “I’m wondering if you can answer some questions for us.”

“I’ll be happy to assist in whatever is needed.”

Dean said, “Last time I spoke with Kevin, he wasn’t nearly as accommodating.”

Cas buried a laugh. Kevin responded, “I was programmed to be of assistance. If you require that I adjust my protocols, you need only ask.”

“Now there’s a little of that Kevin snark in there.” Dean wedged himself into a seat next to Cas. “So Kevin, do you know where we are?”

There was silence, but the screen flickered. “I’m picking up the signal from the Impala. Are you within your ship, Commander Winchester?”

“Yes.”

Kevin asked, “Could you connect me to the data port in your cockpit? I’d like to have access to your ship’s data.”

Dean reached out and Cas set Kevin in his hand. Their fingers brushed a little in the exchange, and Cas was reminded of the many stolen glances he’d shot Dean’s way over the years. So strange to have gone so long without actually introducing himself. Charlie had rolled her eyes at him with every excuse. 

Dean was already up and heading for the cockpit, before Cas shook his head free of the thoughts and followed him. Kevin was hooked up to the console and processing the data. Code flowed up the tablet’s screen. 

Kevin said, “I’m unable to determine your exact location. The data does not make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Cas asked.

“According to the data, we are on Mars, but that is not possible.”

It was Dean’s turn to question the tablet. “Did we jump ahead in time. Is this a future colony?”

“No,” Kevin said before falling into silence again. 

“There are humans here, and they have a railroad. They speak English. Something’s not adding up.” Cas ran a hand through his hair. 

Kevin spoke again, “According to my analysis, we are not in a different time. I believe that we will need more data to calculate how this is possible. Additionally, there is breathable air. We have not accomplished that on this planet.”

“Exactly,” Cas said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say we were on Earth, circa 1800ish. It looks like Utah or southern Colorado if you ask me.”

“According to my calculations, you are on Mars. The portal was near the planet. I will attempt to figure out more about this puzzle.” Kevin went silent. 

Dean unplugged the cable and handed Kevin back to Cas. “Well, that was interesting.” He wandered past Cas to the back of the ship. “Ready to eat?”

“Sure.”

“We’ll eat, pack, rest up, and head out tomorrow at first light. Sound good?” Dean asked.

“I’m game.”


	4. On the Trail

Dean watched Cas packing his gear. He let his eyes drag over him. He’d always admired the man. He had an unspoken competition with him. They’d each completed missions as fast as they could, and though Dean was in the lead, he always felt like one day, Cas would overtake him. 

Charlie had offered to introduce him. She even said that she’d joked with Cas about how they’d never actually met, despite working in the same place. Dean had told her he’d be happy to meet Cas, but the opportunity never came along naturally. He’d dug around in conversations with Charlie, hoping to pick up on important details concerning the attractive man. Over time he got what amounted to almost nothing. Cas was a loner. No spouse, no children, no close family. He never dated. He was a man with a singular focus it seemed. He wanted to be part of the Mars colony.

Dean had to laugh at that now.  _ Guess he got his wish. _ Cas was bending down to pick up the saddle bag that he’d toss over the horse. Dean knew he’d have to fix that, as well as, the whole badly saddled mess that Cas was struggling with. He would do that later though, when Cas was back on the ship.  _ No use making him feel bad. _ Dean drank a bit of water from his canteen. He was rather thirsty. 

“Heya, Cas, wanna get Kevin hooked up and briefed on the route we’re taking?” It was a way to get him on the ship.

“I’m not sure I know the route. You said that we’d be going to a town called Elysium Mons. It is on the maps that we have of Mars.”

Dean said, “This Elysium Mons though, has a town with actual people in it. It’s a town near some impressive mountains to the north and a rather large river to the west. We’re gonna swing back by Robert’s place before the long ride. I wanna ask him if he has contacts there. I find that people tend to trust you more if you name drop a little.”

Cas nodded and went into the ship, presumably to connect Kevin to the Impala’s data on their route. Dean made quick work of Cas’ mount. 

“Sorry there, buddy. I know that saddle wasn’t feeling good at all. I got you though. Don’t you worry a bit.” Dean ran a hand over the horse's neck, and she snorted a little appreciation his way. Dean finished getting ready and then sat on a large boulder under a nearby tree. The trip worried him. It had been a long time since he’d last seen Sam. He’d pushed aside thoughts of what he’d do if his mission failed, if Sam didn’t make it.

He shook his head to clear away those thoughts.  _ Sammy’s gonna be fine. You’re gonna find him. You’d feel it if he wasn’t. _ Dean stood and paced a bit in the shade. He’d be sitting enough over the rest of the day. His mind wouldn’t give him peace. He thought back on the last time he’d thought he'd seen his brother. 

Dean had ridden out toward Elysium Mons. His goal had been to check the mountainous region a few hours ride from that town. There was a stretch of land that banked off along a dry creek bed. Something in Dean had said,  _ go to it.  _ So he veered off toward the creek bed. His eyes scanning the region as he galloped along. He was still a good hour from the town, and the day had already been long.

In the distance, on the other bank was a dark mass of rocks. Large black birds sat perched on them, their heads dipping into the crevices. As Dean drew closer, it became clear that the mass of rocks was not that at all; it was a body. He pulled up the reins of the horse and stared long and hard at the body from his vantage point on the opposite side of the creek bed. The birds were frighteningly huge. He wondered if they were vultures, but he lacked the background to know what they were for sure. 

Dean cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered at the birds to scare them off. A couple of them bounded away but didn’t take to the air. Dean called out again. This time, something unexpected happened: the body moved.

“Shit,” Dean said. He maneuvered the horse down the side of the creek bed and up the other side. The body rose to its feet as if it hadn’t been bird food just a moment before. Its back was to him. “You okay?” Dean didn’t move any closer.

Then the body turned to face Dean with a very familiar face. “Dean?”

“Sammy?” Dean slid off his horse. He took one step and then his mind kicked in. “What were you doing?”

Sam looked at him, blinked once, looked away. His wounds were already healing. His eyes locked on Dean’s. “It took you so long to find me.” He took a step toward Dean. 

Dean freed his pistol. “Sammy, I’m gonna need you to just stand there a moment.”

There was silence for a beat too long. Then Sam said again, “It took you so long to find me.” His eyes seemed too watery, like he’d start crying. It wasn’t Sam, couldn’t be, yet Dean hesitated. 

“You were just laying face down in the sand, letting the birds eat you.” Dean nodded toward a couple of the birds that lingered nearby. “What were you doing?”

“Giving up.” Sam let his head dip to his chest, then he looked back up at Dean and added, with a touch too much enthusiasm, “But now you’re here. You always find me.”

“You’re not Sam.”

There was a twitch just beneath Sam’s right eye. “Course I am.” He took a step toward Dean and let his arms turn out and lift from his sides. It was beckoning Dean into his space. It had been so long. Dean wanted to believe him, even in the face of all the obvious wrongness. He wanted this to be Sam. He’d accept any half cocked reason for what he’d seen before, if it wasn’t for the deadness in this Sam’s voice.

“Stop,” Dean commanded as Sam took another step.

Sam took another step and was just two from being able to grasp Dean. “It’s me, Dean. Can’t you see?”

Dean steadied the gun and raised it. “I said stop,” Dean’s voice dropped low, a near growl of menace. 

Sam’s face flickered with irritation. “You wouldn’t shoot him. You couldn’t.”

Dean pulled back the hammer, and said, “Where’s my brother you son of a bitch?”

Sam just smiled. Dean pulled the trigger as Sam lunged at him. The first bullet slowed him down, but it didn’t stop him. Dean emptied the gun on the creature and was able to get a little distance. He reloaded, and he shot him again. His face, Sam’s face, was bleeding and black. It haunted Dean’s dreams in the months that followed. 

“I ate his liver. He tasted so good.” The creature lay in the sand, trying to regenerate. The taste of a storm filled the air around them. 

“You lie,” Dean growled at him. 

“You’ll never know.” The creature smiled again with Sam’s face, almost back to what it was. “You’re gonna run outta bullets.” Dean realized this was true.

Dean unloaded the gun on the creature again, and then he mounted his horse and rode hard and fast back toward the Impala. He wasn’t ready. He didn’t know what to do to win. And worse still he didn’t have a clue where Sam was. 

The rain came and washed away his tracks. He didn’t go out again to find Sam for many weeks after that encounter. The image of his face, the words of the creature, all of it shook Dean to his core. He couldn't risk going back out as he was. He needed to know he could bring back a win.

"All ready," Cas said as he came out of the shop and headed for his horse. "Gonna have to name her." He stood at her side and stroked her mane. 

Dean mounted his horse swiftly and trotted over to Cas. "Maybe Mercy. Cause she's merciful for not bucking you off."

Cas looked at her past a squint. "That's a good name. Mercy." Then he took a couple of tries to toss himself up onto the very forgiving horse. "Ready." Cas gave Dean a little half grin.

Dean had noticed the squinting before and scooped up a hat for Cas that he had been waiting to hand over. "Here." He reached over with it now, and Cas took it. It was ugly or maybe just cheap looking. It was light straw colored and a little flimsy. Cas looked at it with a barely disguised scowl. "We'll get a better one in Elysium Mons. You'll be glad to have this one though when the sun's beating down on you."

"Thanks." 

They rode out in silence. It was still early. In fact the sun had only just risen over the horizon. The ride to town would be about an hour, maybe two. It depended on how fast Cas would be able to go. Dean wondered if it wouldn’t just be easier to have the guy ride with him. It would be a lot to ask of his horse though. Cas would just need to get better.

“You think you can gallop a little?” Dean asked.

“Maybe.” Cas tapped his heels into Mercy’s sides and said, “Ya!” The horse bolted. It had seemingly been waiting for the freedom of a good run. Dean was left in the dust for a moment before he got his own horse running to catch up. 

_ Guess maybe it won’t take so long, _ Dean thought.

Cas did not look happy, but he was still upright and galloping. Dean tossed him a smile, then pulled up his bandana, to keep the dust from filling his lungs. There were wind storms nearly every day. This paired with the daily rain was something that separated the place from the familiar that was Earth. By midday the sun would be scorching down their backs but only briefly, as this place seemed to run colder than Earth. Dean hoped that they’d make it to Creekside by noon for a bit of a rest.

First there was Robert to see. He wished he had just taken the time to talk more out with the guy when they were there the day before. There was a lot to consider though, and he could be forgiven for forgetting a little.

The time passed rapidly now that they were galloping. The distance fell away. And soon enough, the town was in sight. Dean hollered at Cas to slow up and by some miracle he heard. 

They rounded the back end of town and made their way to the stables. “We aren’t meeting him at the saloon?” Cas asked.

“Nah, he’s not up yet.” Dean dismounted and tied off his horse outside the stable. “Um, you might want to hover a bit behind me. Robert ain’t a fan of being woken up so early.”

“Okay.” Cas looked around a little then asked, “He sleeps in the stable?”

“Yeah. He said it keeps the thieves from making an easy steal.” Dean opened the door and stepped into the rather dark space. Cas lingered at the door, allowing a little more light to seep in from outside. The horses snorted a little in their stalls and shuffled about. “Robert,” Dean called out.

The growl that the old man let out from the back of the stable was more animal than man. “Less you want a bullet in ya, you better be leaving.”

“It’s Dean. I’m heading out today, but I forgot to ask you for some info.”

Robert was up and out of his sleeping space, a stall that was converted in the back corner of the stable. Dean had seen the space before, and it wasn’t anything to write home about. Robert had his pistol in hand. He was dressed in a pair of red long johns. The buttons up the front were loose at the top and very tight around his generous middle. Both his beard and hair were wild with the fits of recent sleep. He did not look like one to contend with.

“This better be worth my time. I was getting my beauty rest,” Robert grumbled.

“I’ll let you get back to it soon enough. Looks downright necessary.” Dean flashed a smile. Robert grumbled.

“Well?”

Dean swiped his hat off his head. “I was just wondering if you had any contacts that I could name drop in Elysium Mons?” Dean whisked a hand through his hair. “I just think it’d be easier to get some information if I know someone there.”

“Yeah, people out there don’t cotton to strangers much.” Robert spit off to the side. “You could’ve asked me this yesterday, ya idgit.”

“Yeah, been a bit forgetful lately. Sorry.” Dean pressed the hat back to his head.

“Well, you can stop in and chat up my inventor friend, the one I told you about that makes the water things.”

“The steam engines,” Dean supplied.

“Yeah, that one. He’d have information if there was any. He might also have some items for purchase that could prove useful. You got some change or trade on ya?”

Dean tossed a glance back at the door. “Yeah, I’ve got a little.”

“Okay then. His name is Rufus. Tell him I’m still waiting for that scotch. He’ll know you came from me then. Also, it’s a good reminder that, that bastard owes me.” Robert let out a little laugh. Then seeming to remember that he was still holding his gun, he stepped back into his stall and set it down. He came back out to the middle of the room and shook Dean’s hand. “You take care, boy.” He pulled Dean into a quick hug then released him. 

“You getting sentimental on me, old timer?” Dean smiled.

Robert rolled his eyes. “My son might be holed up with Rufus as well. He usually spends some time there before heading back here to visit. If he’s there, say hey for me. His name’s Garth.”

“Will do.” Dean clapped him on the shoulder then turned to the door. Cas gave Robert a nod and let Dean pass.

They mounted their horses without a word and headed north. Cas immediately went into a gallop. Dean noticed that he had mounted the horse smoothly. He even seemed to be getting the hang of the whole riding thing. This was good, because today’s ride would be long.

Home seemed like a distant memory. It wasn’t as dirty, that was for sure. Dean let his mind wander over the last days he’d spent on Earth. Charlie had come over. They’d talked about her last mission with Cas and the next mission on the horizon. He and Sam were slated to go next. They had another month of preparations at that point.

“I’m gonna make you meet him. Hardly seems right that my two guys don’t even know each other,” Charlie popped a fry in her mouth.

“Doesn’t seem like he’s interested. You’ve asked him out with Sam and me before,” Dean said, then dove into his burger. Grease oozed over his fingers.

“That wasn’t it. He was interested. He just gets so focused. I guarantee you, he’d be happy to know you. Frankly we have time right now.”

They ate for a bit in silence. “He dating anyone yet?”

Charlie raised a brow, and a half smile began ticking at the corner of her mouth. “Why Dean Winchester. Are you angling for more than a friendly intro, because I’m so game.”

Dean laughed. “Ever the matchmaker.” He set down his burger and scooped up his drink. He took a sip from the straw then added, “I’m just making conversation.”

“I know you, buddy.” She pointed at him with a fry. “You think he’s cute.”

“He’s good looking. I’m not on the market.”

“You so are. Unless you started dating someone without telling me.” Charlie’s face set into a little scowl. “You aren’t are you?”

“Nah, I just don’t date right before a mission. Too much to fog my thoughts. Gotta be focused.”

“Then you’d never get any, and I know full well, you are always getting.” Charlie laughed and Dean joined her.

“I said date, not…” he paused for a second, “blow off some steam.”

“Well, maybe you and Castiel could blow off some steam. Lord knows that boy needs it. Love him and all that, but lately he’s had a perpetual stick up his ass.”

“What’s eating him?”

Charlie sighed. “It’s the Mars mission. You know he wants to be in the initial colony, right.”

“Yeah, you said that the two of you put in the paperwork to get things started.”

“Well, they have some requirements that we don’t meet. He’s had a rough time dealing with it.”

Dean leaned back in his seat and stretched out his limbs. “What sort of requirements we talking about. Guy’s been on a million missions. Pretty sure he’s fit for colonizing duty.”

“It’s not that he isn’t physically fit enough. He’s just not gonna be able to uphold the procreative requirements. They want people to grow the colony while they are there, set down familial roots so to speak.”

“What’re you saying?” Dean asked.

“I’m saying, he’d have to be interested in settling down with someone that he could have children with while on Mars. This is a one-way mission for us. We’d be choosing to live there. He was fine with that. I was fine with that. Then the policy came out. I’m not really playing for team hetero and neither is he.”

“Oh.” Dean caught up. “You could lie.”

“He doesn’t do that.”

“Well,” Dean started, “Sometimes when you really want something, you gotta.” 

“I told him that. He said that it would mean that we might be the only ones there that are  _ otherwise oriented _ .” She threw air quotes up around the end. He may be a bit of a loner, but I think he always held out hope of finding his match. Sometimes I think he hoped it’d be on Mars. He idealized the place so much. There’s no way that the reality of the place will ever hold up.”

“You wanted to go too. Has that changed?”

“I don’t know. I’m not down with spending my life without someone. Friendship’s great and all, but a girl has needs.” Charlie winked.

“I hear that.” Dean smirked. “I hope this gets worked out. You all deserve this opportunity.”

“Hear, hear.” Charlie drummed the table.

Dean could see the creek up ahead and called out to Cas, “Head for that tree there. We’ll let the horses rest a bit.” They’d made good time. Cas seemed to be comfortable now with his horse. Miracles never cease.

Dean tied off his horse to a low hanging branch so it could reach the creek. He watched as Cas did the same. “My legs feel like Jello,” Cas said as he came to Dean’s side. “Maybe I’ll get used to it.”

Dean rummaged through his saddle bag. “Jerky and some mystery items from the ship?” Dean asked as he pulled out some pouches and a couple strips of jerky.

“Sounds like it’ll have to do.” Cas took his share and sat over on the little shady shore next to the creek. Dean came over and sat at this side. They ate hunks of the jerky and washed it down with water from a canteen that they passed back and forth. Eventually, Cas said, “So, you and Robert?” There was a tone to it that drew Dean’s eye.

“Huh?” He didn’t want to assume, but it sure sounded like Cas was implying something.

“I mean, I guess you two really bonded over your time here.”

“Robert took care of me when that gooey bastard attacked us in the town. The asshole knifed me good.” Dean pulled up a pants leg and showed Cas a scar that ran from his ankle to his knee. “Woulda bled out if that old bastard wouldn’t have taken me in. Treated me like his own kid.”

“Oh,” Cas paused and then repeated himself, “oh.” He looked away then back. “So not a couple then?”

Dean laughed. “Uh, no.”

“It’s just that he hugged you, and it seemed like a thing.”

“People hug, Cas.” Dean knocked his shoulder into Cas and laughed again. “What about you?”

“Huh?”

“You leave behind some honey back in Houston?” Dean smiled a little half grin.

“Oh, no. I um. I don’t really have time for such things.” Cas got up and stretched. 

“Really? No time for even a little something?” Dean felt like riling the guy up a little. He seemed uncomfortable with the questions.

“Um, you know how busy things get. The missions come first.”

“Still, you get out there in the times between, ya know.” Dean got up and started eating the mystery meal from the bag while standing next to Cas.

“I guess you have someone waiting for you at home then?” Cas turned to him a little. His earnest, blue eyes seemed to delve into some deep part of Dean.

Now it was Dean’s turn to feel a little unsettled.  _ How’d we end up standing so close?  _ “I’m not seeing anyone. Guess that’s a good thing though, since I’ve been here so long.” Dean licked his lips and watched as Cas did the same. “You should eat your mystery meal.” And like that, the spell was broken. 

Cas looked down at the packet that he was clutching. He slowly lifted it and opened it. He took a little whiff and tried a bite. “Not horrible.”

“There’s that at least.”

Elysium Mons was massive. It was nothing like the Noachis. Dean stopped the horse on a little rise alongside Cas. The buildings were all multistoried, and there were many roads set up in a grid. “It’s an actual city,” Dean murmured.

“Sure is.” Cas looked over to Dean. “You hadn’t seen it before?”

“Well, no. I just had intentions of getting here, but I got waylaid by one of the Leviathan before I got here.” Dean let the horse take a tentative step forward. “How’re we gonna find Rufus? That town is huge.”

“Robert said he ran a shop, right? Something with steam engines.” Cas pointed out to the far end of town. White puffs of steam clouds rose from its stacks. “Maybe the shop isn’t so small.”

Dean looked to where Cas pointed and had to agree. It hardly seemed like anything normal for the places he’d been so far. Everyone was a bit behind on the tech front, yet here was a bona fide factory building. “Let’s check it out.”

"Wait just a sec." Cas pulled Kevin out of his saddlebag. "I want to take a couple of shots of the town for Kevin's data." He used Kevin to do just that.

Then Kevin spoke. " Get a soil sample from this region. I'd like to run some tests on it and compare it to what we already have from the other region."

Cas put Kevin back in the saddlebag and got a container to collect some soil. He sealed it up and put it in the bag. "I wonder if he'll conclude that this really is future Mars?" Cas wondered aloud.

Dean said, "It seems like the only explanation that makes sense, but you said Kevin back home already shot that concept down."

"He did, repeatedly. Doesn't mean that this Kevin will do the same." Cas mounted the horse again, and they headed into the town. 

Though they could see the town from the small hill they'd been on, the ride to its center took another hour. There were roads to follow now that skirted the edges of property lines. 

The closer they got, the more people emerged. There were farmers working fields, wagons heading out with passengers, and the familiar noises of city life.

Most travelers in and out of the city seemed to be coming and going via the east/west running roads. Dean and Cas had come in from the south and not via any roads. 

When they emerged onto the main road through town, Dean said, "They have electricity."

"I noticed." Cas moved along at Dean's side as they rode down the street. There were families strolling along the sidewalks and plenty of traffic on the roads. "I'm guessing the advances are new here, otherwise they'd have vehicles."

"Maybe." Dean was taking it all in. None of the buildings in the city were less than three stories, and those were on the outskirts of town and made of wood instead of stone. The buildings in the city were sturdy and almost modern. "Looks like they've got the Industrial Revolution in this part of the world."

They tied their horses to the post in front of the factory and made their way in. The factory stood near the large river that flowed along the western side of town. There was a large bridge that gave access from one side to the other. The factory also seemed to be utilizing the river for power. 

Just inside the building they found a desk. Beyond it was the factory floor and workers aplenty. "Can I help you boys?" An older woman sat behind the large imposing desk with a couple of chairs stationed in front of it. The woman did not invite them to sit. She had glasses perched low on her nose, and she glared at them over the brim.

Dean approached her desk. "Hi, my name's Dean, and this is Castiel. We're hoping to speak with a man named Rufus."

"Mr. Turner is a busy man." She looked like she was going to just go back to work after that pronouncement.

Dean tried again, "We're friends of Robert's. He thought that Rufus might be able to help us out. He also said that we might find his son here, a guy named Garth." Dean was name-dropping as much as possible now, but with only two names, he was sure that they had hit a wall.

Castiel spoke up then, "Please, it's a matter of some urgency."

The woman looked at him with a gaze that seemed to bore right into him. "What sort of urgency?"

"There are these creatures in the region. They're dangerous. We were hoping to consult with him, exchange information." Castiel had his hat in his hands and was fussing with the brim while he spoke.

The woman stood. "I'll see if Mr. Turner wants to see you. Wait here." With that, she turned and walked out of the room. She could be heard as she called out to the factory floor, "Garth, some men are here that know your dad."

A gangly strip of a man meandered into the room next. He took a seat behind the desk and motioned for Dean and Cas to take seats as well. Once everyone was seated, he asked, “So you fellas say you’re acquainted with my dad?”

Dean answered, “Yeah. He said you need to write more.”

Garth smiled, a broad toothy, awkward smile. “How’s the cat?”

“Huh,” Dean said. “What cat?”

“The cat he keeps in the stable. Our yellow striped cat.” Garth’s brows came together.

“Uh, I don’t recall seeing a cat. He’s still got old Becks. That nag still threatens to bite me if I come within ten feet of her.” Dean looked from Garth to Cas and back. He hoped he hadn’t just revealed the death of some beloved family pet or something.

“He didn’t have a cat. I was just testing you. We’ve learned that there are some creatures in the region. They do a fair job impersonating people, but when they run into questions of a personal sort, they don’t often know how to answer. So I just ask everyone I meet a little test question. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they look when answering questions.” Garth stood and leaned over the desk. He held out a hand to Dean. “Nice to meet you now.” Dean shook his hand then Garth reached over to Cas. “You too.”

“Nice to meet you, Garth,” Cas said.

Soon as the shake was done, the woman and a tall black man came into the room. Garth vacated the desk. “Heya, Rufus. This here is Dean and,” Garth struggled to recall Cas’ name.

“Castiel Novak,” Cas supplied. 

Rufus shook each of their hands. “You say you know Bobby?”

Dean said, “Well, never called him Bobby, but yeah. He said to tell you that ‘he’s still waiting for that scotch.’”

Rufus laughed a great belly laugh. “He can keep on waiting,” he said after catching a breath. “Or he can make the trek out here where we’re civilized.” He laughed again. “Come on up to my office. We’ll chat. You too Garth.” Rufus turned and waved one finger in the air in a circle, leading them off.

Once they reached his office everyone sat in various chairs around the room. It was a rather dark office space, but there was an expansive view of the river and the desert out the window. “You’ve got electricity here,” Cas said.

“You noticed. Yeah, we’re not like that podunk town you all just rode out of. Finally got the city wired up this past season. Been doing right well.” Rufus leaned forward and rubbed his hands together. “But you lot didn’t come here to talk about our progress. Tell me about the monsters.”

“Robert said that he told you about the soap being toxic to them,” Dean started.

“Yeah, I know all about that. You cut their heads off when they’re down, and that finishes them off too,” Rufus added. 

Dean perked up in his seat. “What do ya mean?”

“I mean they don’t get back up again. Found out in an unpleasant sort of way.” Rufus ran a hand over his face and turned to the small window and the river beyond it.

Garth took over then. “We got word from one of the guys that has a ranch way out on the far end of what we’d even consider our town. His kid went missing. Young thing, a real free spirit. Andy was maybe six or seven. Last they saw him, he was off skipping stones or somesuch, then he didn’t come home for supper when his mom called.”

“Why’d they come to you?” Cas asked.

“Everyone comes to Rufus here,” Garth said as he jerked his head in Rufus’ direction. “He’s sort of the unofficial mayor of this town. Everyone just knows who to go to to get things done.”

Rufus interrupted, “And it likely helped that I’d just been telling everyone what I’d heard from Bobby.” His head dipped down to his chest. “Course they didn’t believe me right off. They thought I was a little off the deep end until some odd disappearances started up. First there was Boggs, then there was Shelby. They came up with explanations, but these were adults.”

Garth took over. “When Andy disappeared, we all knew something was wrong. We rounded up some guys and searched the river. He could’ve fallen in. A few hours later, we get back to town, and someone found him.”

“Alive?” Dean asked.

Garth said, “Wasn’t him. Looked like him, said some things that sounded like him, but there was a deadness in his tone.”

Rufus said, “His eyes were cold. I knew the boy. His dad brought him in from time to time. He was an energetic little rascal.”

Garth continued for him. They bounced back and forth seamlessly. “Well, Rufus went up to the boy and took his hand. The boy screamed and then started shifting through shapes.”

“What do ya mean by shifting through shapes?” Dean asked.

“Don’t know how to explain it,” Garth started. “I’d say his face stretched and shrunk in on itself. Then it went black, then back to flesh. At one point its mouth stretched wide and there were teeth all sharp and scary looking. It was not our Andy.”

“Why’d it change?” Cas asked.

Rufus said, “I dipped my hand in the borax powder I was carrying. He didn’t like that I reckon.” He leveled his gaze on the window again. “His father didn’t like it either and cut the head clean off of the creature.”

“You all ever find the boy,” Dean asked.

“No.” Rufus got up and walked to the window. “That boy ain’t no more.”

Garth added, “But the people believe it now. Whole thing happened in the street out there. Bunch of people saw it and word spread. Don’t know if you saw it, but there’s a bunch of high troughs on the corners. They’re filled with borax. You’ll see people dipping their hands into it. We’re all weapons now.”

Dean got up and walked to Rufus’ side. “Those bastards got my brother, wore his face around. I don’t think he’s dead though.” Dean reached into his coat and pulled out a picture and handed it over to Rufus.

“Whoa, what’s this?” Rufus asked, turning the picture over and over.

“It’s called a photograph. Where I come from they’re pretty common.” Dean tapped the picture in Rufus’ hand. “Have you seen him around here?”

Rufus looked at the photo, still shocked by its existence. “Not sure. I’ll round up some men to go out with us tomorrow, early. We can ask around.” He handed back the photo. “Follow me. I’ll set you up at Lula’s place.”

“Lula’s?” Cas asked.

“Yeah, she runs a…” Rufus looked from one to the other, then ended, “a boarding house. She’ll give you a bed for the night, then I’ll get you both at first light.” He rounded a corner and they followed him. Several blocks up and they were standing in front of a boisterous place. Seemingly part saloon, part restaurant, part boarding house, and maybe a brothel if the scantily clad workers were anything to go by. “Here we are.”

Cas leaned into Dean’s side and said, “I don’t see us getting much sleep here.” Two men stumbled out of the swinging doors in front of them.

“You got plans to let off a little steam?” Dean laughed.

“Uh,” Cas began stammering. “I only meant because of the noise. I have no intentions.”

Dean laughed again and clapped Cas on his shoulder. “You’re hilarious, a real barrel of monkeys, Cas.” They walked in together, into the ruckus that was Lula’s.

Lula was a short, jovial woman. She guided Dean and Cas past the wild barroom. She chattered on with Rufus about the factory and everything else under the sun. She took them all down a narrow flight of stairs. “This here ain’t no room. I’d never rent it. Seeing as you lot are friends of Rufus’ though, I won’t have you sleeping out on the street.”

They got to the bottom of the stairs and she opened the door to a large basement, moved into the dark space, and eventually turned on a lamp that was on a small bedside table. The illumination showed a room filled with shelves full of canned vegetables and other assorted items. Most notable though was the small bed wedged into the corner and the single chair and table. The room was not very inviting. 

“You got any spare blankets?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, I’ll send my boy down here with them. Sorry about the room. I know it’s not great.” Lula shrugged and walked back over to Rufus. “I’ll also send down some dinner. You boys eat anything yet?”

“No, thanks so much. You’re really too kind.” Cas smiled at her and then tossed his saddlebag onto the foot of the bed.

Lula left and Rufus raked a hand up over his head. “Sorry she doesn’t have two beds for ya. Maybe you can take turns.”

“We’ll be fine, Rufus. We’re just grateful for the help we’ll be getting tomorrow,” Dean said.

Rufus moved toward the door a little. “I’ve got a crew of men that will be happy to help. We’ve been in a defensive posture for the past month. I say you all lit a bit of a fire in me today. Time to go on the offensive, take back our home.” He opened the door to step out and found a young man on the other side heavily burdened with a tray of food settled on top of a mass of blankets. “Looks like your delivery is here. I’ll be back at first light to get you. Sleep well.” With that Rufus was out and the food was in.

“Lula said that you could just set the tray out in the hall when you finish. Someone will come fetch it.” The man looked from one to the other then at the bed. “She also said that for a price, there’s entertainment upstairs. She’d discount you though, being as you know Rufus.”

“We’re good, kid,” Dean said as he settled a hand on the guy’s shoulder. “Mind if I take that?” Dean looked down at the pile that the guy was holding.

“Here.” The guy looked steadily at Dean and added, “Not a kid. Likely not much younger than you.” There was something in the way his eyes drifted down Dean’s body. “Feel free to come find me if you change your mind about the entertainment tonight.” He turned then, and went out the door, closing it behind him.

“Well, aren’t they all just so accommodating?” Dean set the blankets on the bed, then removed the tray of food. There was a lot there, bowls of stew and a hearty loaf of bread. There was a pitcher of something that Dean leaned into and smelled. “Whoa, I think that’s mead. Haven’t had that in ages.”

Cas came over and gave it a sniff. “Smells strong.”

“We won’t be drinking all of that if we want to get up on time tomorrow. Ain’t nothing wrong with drinking a little though.” He threw a wink at Cas. “Help me drag that table over and we’ll have a bit of dinner.”

They arranged the table so that one of them could sit on the bed, while the other sat on the chair. It worked well enough. They ate most of their food in companionable silence. It had been some hours since they’d eaten at the creekside stop. When they finished there was nothing to do but to go to bed. The warmth of the mead made the night feel even more companionable.

They both got up and stared down at the bed together, noting the difficult situation somewhat before Cas said, “I’m fine with taking the floor. I can use the extra blankets to make a bed.”

Dean stood and gave the floor a little stamp with his foot. “It’s hard as concrete. Maybe Rufus was right. Maybe we should take turns.” Dean looked from the bed to the floor.

They began clearing the food up and set the tray out in the hall. Cas got into the bed and wedged himself right up against the wall. He looked back at Dean and said, “Lay here next to me. Let’s see if we’ll both fit.”

Dean just stared down at him. “You propositioning me, Cas?”

Castiel laughed. “If I was, you’d know it. Now lay down and let’s see if this can work.”

Dean sat on the bed then laid back. It was wall to edge them. “This is a tight fit. Pretty sure I’m gonna end up ass over tea kettle by the middle of the night,” Dean said.

“You can have the wall side. I don’t move much when I sleep.” Cas tried to sit up, but had nowhere to wedge an arm.

“I’m fine on the edge, just saying it’s gonna be tight.” Dean got up and sat on the chair. He began pulling off his boots. “Well, let’s give it a go. Worst case scenario, I end up on a blanket on the floor.” Dean stripped off his shirt before Cas got with the program and moved from the bed.

Cas took over the chair and removed his boots too. Dean was quickly down to boxers. He caught Cas looking. “Sorry, just tired,” Cas mumbled.

Dean laughed and started setting the blankets out on the floor. “Gonna set this up for the inevitable.” 

Cas turned away from Dean and made short work of removing his shirt and pants. Dean tried not to be obvious about his looking as he fiddled with the floor bed that they had no intention of using. Cas was carefully folding up his clothes and laying them out on the chair. Then he turned to Dean. “I’m missing my shower right about now.”

“Not sure if I’ll ever get use to all the dust. The temperature fluxuations are extreme too. It’s blazing hot in the day now, but the nights are wickedly cold. The warm season doesn't last long. Winters here are harsh too. Hopefully we find Sam soon.” Dean looked to the bed then motioned for Cas to climb in.

Cas was as crushed up against the wall as he could be. Dean tried not to be right up against him, but there was really no choice. “Maybe if I sleep on my side,” Cas said.

“Try not to worry about it too much. Maybe once we’re asleep, we won’t even know that the bed is small.” Dean pulled on the blankets a little to get them situated. It was a little cold in the room. He reached over to the lamp and switched it off. The room was very dark. The rooms above them sent a steady rumble of noise into the basement space. Dean tucked his arm under the blanket. There was no way around it, his arm rested all along Castiel’s. Their fingers could easily entwine beneath the blankets.

“Are you worried about tomorrow?” Cas asked, his voice gentle and inviting in the dark. 

Dean thought he was fine with his mission. Find Sam, who was absolutely still alive. Get him back home. Kill the gooey bastards, one and all. “I’m fine.” He would have ended with that statement, but something about the dark and the closeness of Cas, made confession fall from his lips. “I feel like I’m a little lost. I don’t really know where to look. It’s a big planet. Sam could be anywhere.”

Castiel moved his fingers a little, grazing the back of Dean’s own. “Call it instinct, but I feel like we’re close. There’ve been multiple disappearances here. I’m thinking the Leviathan have set up camp not far from here. We’ll find him, Dean. I can really feel it.”

“I hope you’re right, Cas. I really hope you’re right.” Dean closed his eyes to the dark and let the night noises drown out his thoughts. The warmth of Cas at his side made the hope real. Sam had to be okay. He just had to be.


	5. Sam

Cas woke in the night to find that his fingers and Dean’s had twined together into a bit of handholding. He didn’t mind one bit. He wondered if Dean would mind. He stretched a little, and Dean’s sleepy breaths changed a little. Cas wanted to roll over, but he worried that he’d wake Dean up. He also didn’t want to lose the closeness that had transpired in the night.  _ Could I take his hand with me? _

He decided that it was worth the risk. Slowly, so that he wouldn’t disturb Dean, Cas rolled onto his side, facing the wall. He took Dean’s hand with him and held it pressed to his chest. He drifted back into sleep.

Cas woke again, and it was still dark. Everything was silent, save for Dean’s breathing, which was not the same as it had been before.  _ He’s awake. _ Cas still held Dean’s hand at his chest. He wondered if Dean was finding the position uncomfortable. He loosened his hold on Dean’s hand so that Dean could easily retreat if he wanted to do so. Dean didn’t retreat. In fact, time passed and he seemed quite content to let his hand linger at Cas’ chest. 

Cas was certain that Dean was awake. There was no way that he was sleeping. “You don’t have to pretend to be asleep,” Cas said.

Dean mumbled like he was just waking up. He started to let his hand slide away, but Cas gave him a slight squeeze. Dean mumbled, “Thought I might have been bothering you in your sleep.”

“If you were, I’d have told you. I’m actually very comfortable finally,” Cas said.

“You’re awake though.”

“Yeah, guess I’m having a hard time sleeping through to morning,” Cas said as he rolled onto his back. He didn’t release Dean’s hand.

“Something keeping you up?” Dean asked.

“Maybe.”

Dean dragged his hand away from Castiel’s and slowly moved his fingers along Castiel’s arm. He traced over muscles then found his way to Castiel’s ribs. He traced over the lines and valleys of Castiel’s body. “Your muscles are tense.” Dean sucked in a breath and held it. Castiel wished he could see him. Dean continued, “You thinking you need to blow off some steam?”

Castiel didn’t even wait a moment to consider his response. He absolutely needed to blow off some steam, and he was certain that Dean needed to as well. He rolled on top of Dean and said, “Is that a proposition?”

“You tell me.” 

Then Dean stretched up from the bed to kiss him. He missed the mark a little, landing the kiss just beneath Castiel’s right eye. Castiel got a hand behind Dean’s neck and hauled him back up into a well placed kiss this time. In the back of his mind, he worried that they were too close to the edge of the bed. Castiel’s one leg had slid out of the bed and stretched out to the floor. “Move over to the center.” 

Dean scooted over a little, which was a feat to be sure with all of Cas on top of him. Castiel rewarded his effort by kissing down the side of Dean’s neck while pressing his hips firmly into Dean’s hard, welcoming lap. Castiel was determined to make this memorable for Dean. The man had enough darkness these past few months. Cas also felt determined not to let him know that life had not afforded him experiences beyond the ever looming missions. Desires were always there, yes, but time for action, not so much.

“Our options are limited here,” Dean groaned out between kisses. 

“Our bed is limited; our options are not.” Cas reached between them and gripped Dean through his boxers. “Get rid of these.”

Cas didn’t make it easy for him, but Dean shimmied out of the boxers while Cas dragged his lips up the bolt of Dean’s jaw to his ear. “We don’t have what we need here,” Dean tried to explain again.

Cas pushed himself up from Dean and reached over to the lamp to switch it on. “Shit that’s bright.” It wasn’t so bad, but the darkness was deep before. “You want me to stop. Is that what you’re saying?” Cas focused on Dean as he waited for a response. Dean was still adjusting to the light, and his hands were gripping Castiel’s hips.

“Not even a little.” Dean swallowed. “I’m just saying, we don’t have lube and shit. Gonna limit our options.”

Castiel stared down at him for a moment or two, then smiled at him. “Thought we were just blowing off steam. Didn’t think we needed anything fancy for that.” Cas dipped down again and kissed him deeply into the pillow. Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel’s back and held him there until Cas decided to start working his way down the bed. 

When Cas got to the goal, he hoisted up Dean’s legs over his shoulders and gave each of Dean’s inner thighs some attention. “You gonna blow off some steam or what?” Dean was sitting up a little, flushed to his chest, looking at him. Cas just smiled and went back to kissing Dean’s thighs. “Asshole.”

“Is that an insult or directions?” Cas asked between kisses.

Dean laughed and said, “You’re an asshole.”

Cas took him in his mouth immediately. Dean writhed back, hips thrusting upward involuntarily. Cas popped off and said, “I’m an asshole?”

Dean grabbed Castiel’s head and said, “Don’t stop. God, don’t stop.”

Cas complied. He reduced Dean to a writhing, mumbling mess. Half his vocabulary became, ‘Cas.’ The other half was a string of vulgarities and encouragement. When Dean came it was with little warning, but Cas was pleased with the results. 

“Come here,” Dean said, his voice a growl of desperation. He added, “Get those boxers off.”

Cas worked the boxers off his body. It was far from graceful, but he managed. He crawled up the bed without falling, which was another miracle. Dean pulled him down to his chest, and kissed him deeply. “To think we could have been blowing off steam before.” He didn’t know where that came from or even when they would have had the time. Yet here he was pretty much confessing a long-held desire.

“Get on your knees up here.” Dean directed him to the head of the bed. He repositioned himself so that Cas was aimed right at his kiss-bruised lips. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous like this.” Dean took him in hand and stroked him a few times before he opened his mouth to him. Cas pressed his palms to the wall to keep upright. Dean hummed around him and gripped his thighs bruisingly tight.

Castiel tried his best not to thrust into Dean’s warm mouth. He also did his best not to speak. He feared all that he could confess in such a sensitive moment. This was blowing off steam, not some grand beginning to a new relationship. They needed this. He knew he needed this. Dean likely needed this just as much. Dean took him deeper, and Cas knew that he wasn’t long for this. He did pull away before he finished. Dean looked up, a smile on his face. Everything was a mess. Dean was a mess, yet somehow it was okay. 

They didn’t say anything after, just used the extra blankets to clean up. They put their boxers back on and crawled back into bed. Dean pulled Cas into the crook of his arm and kissed the top of his head. They were both asleep within moments.

Being woken up at ass-o-clock in the morning by Rufus was not ideal. It was clear to anyone with eyes that the night had held some entertainment. Rufus didn’t say a word about that. Instead he just started tossing clothes at them. “Told you I’d be here early. Least you could do was be dressed.” Dean got up and started throwing on clothes. Cas did the same. The whole time they felt the glare of judgement. “Got a whole group out there itching to go. Hurry up and meet me up there.”

“You think it bothered him seeing us that way?” Cas asked.

“Didn’t seem to.” Dean tossed Castiel’s saddlebag to him. “Come on, let’s not make it any worse.”

They got to the barroom quickly. Rufus stood in the middle of the room, a crowd of a dozen surrounding him. “Finally,” Rufus called out. “Now come over here for the introductions.” He waved a hand out to the crowd that parted, letting Cas and Dean pass through to the middle. “This here’s Phillipe,” Rufus said as he clapped a tall, grey-haired man on the shoulder. “Sharpshooter.”

Dean reached out a hand and shook Phillipe’s. “Good to meet you.”

Rufus stepped between them. “We ain’t gonna be shaking hands and shit. I’m gonna tell you their names, and then we’re gonna be going.” Dean nodded, and Rufus continued, “This is Curtis.” Rufus pointed to another man and then another. “Ralph, Barlow, Pete.” He continued rattling off names. Lastly he turned to the other side of the crowd that parted as he did so. A tall, dark-haired woman stood there, aviator goggles around her neck and a tight black tank top. Her pants were black leather. She wore tan boots that went clear to her knees. She was dressed more like a biker than a cowboy. She looked nothing like any of the people they’d come across in their time on the planet. “And this is my pilot, Pamela.”

“Pilot?” Cas asked.

“Yeah, we’re gonna ride out to the airfield outside of town. Some of the boys will go up with us to scope out the terrain. We can fly higher than their bullets. The rest will ride out and get the lay of the land from horseback.” Rufus waved a hand high in a circle and called out a little louder than was strictly necessary. “You all know what these bastards can do. It’s high time we show them that we aren’t sitting back and taking it. Ride out!” 

They all whooped and rushed the door. Cas grabbed Dean’s arm. “They’ve got planes?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never detected anything on any of my scans. You think you can subtly ask Kevin?”

“Not while riding out on horseback,” Cas said. Their horses had apparently been relocated to the front of Lula’s. Dean mounted his horse and Cas got up onto his own. They rode out at a fast clip to the end of the city and then north on a trail that seemed well-traveled. They hugged the river as they rode. The sun was just breaching the horizon, a burst of pinks and oranges on the red landscape to their right.

Pamela settled back into a pace that brought her between Cas and Dean. She called out, “Why are we bringing you two on this mission?”

Dean called back, “I’m looking for my brother. The Leviathan got him.”

“Then he’s dead,” Pamela said with no hesitation. “And we don’t call them that.”

“What do you call them then?” Cas asked.

“Assholes, bastards, fuckers.” She grinned and it was fierce. “Shelby was my girl, and I never once thought she’d run off. Those fuckers got her, and I’m damn well gonna make ‘em pay. They don’t get no fancy name. They just get to be dead.” She kicked in her heels and raced ahead to Rufus’ side.

Dean nodded to Cas. “I like her.”

Castiel felt no end of the surprise that settled over him as they rode onto the airfield. The sun was high overhead. The light glinted off the dirigible that sat perched on a little riser in the middle of the flat land. There was a large warehouse adjacent. 

“Well, shit,” Dean said as they came to a stop. “I’ve flown in a lot of planes, rockets, and just about anything else you can imagine, but I’ve never flown in one of those.”

Cas slipped off his horse and eased Kevin out of his saddlebag. “I’m gonna let Kevin get a load of this.” The rest of the group was milling around the airship. “Kevin, this is gonna have to be quick, but take in what you can.” Cas angled the tablet’s camera out at the ship. Its silver panels glistened in the sunlight. There were long strips of black metal ribs that ran down to the ship’s cabin beneath.

“This is impressive,” Kevin said. “I did not detect any advancements of this kind during my interface with the Impala. This must be a rare thing for this world. Will you be flying in this vessel?”

“I believe so,” Cas said. 

“It appears to be steam powered.” Cas moved Kevin about so he could take in more of the surrounding area. “It should be safe enough. If possible, you should attempt to take photographs while in flight. The data would be valuable.”

“I’ll try,” Cas said. “I gotta put you back in the bag. Don’t want to have to explain you.”

“That’s fine. I’ll be able to monitor some things from the bag.” Cas had just about closed the saddlebag when Kevin spoke. 

“Monitoring? In what way?” Cas asked.

Kevin’s response came from within the bag. “I’m always monitoring, whether it is just sound or readings on the composition of the air that reaches the inside of the bag. Dr. Tran programmed me to keep any and all records that I could during this historic mission.”

“So, sounds, like any sounds that might have occured last night?” Cas asked.

“Those will be filed separately, so as not to create embarrassment. The files that will be shared with the counsel upon our return will not include such details.” There was a pause, then Kevin added, “I suppose congratulations are in order.”

Dean rode over to the front of Castiel’s horse. “What’s taking you so long? They’re gonna wonder what’s holding us back.”

“Nothing. I’m just catching up with Kevin.” Cas closed the saddlebag and mounted the horse. They rode to the airship to join the others.

The vessel was far from quiet. The noise of the steam engine and the crew combined to form a near deafening atmosphere. It was enough to propel Cas out onto the outer veranda that was nothing more than a slim railing wrapping around the cabin. The floor of the veranda was metal and welded to the edges of the cabin and a bar that ran beneath it. The air outside was cold, damn near frigid. Still, it was a welcome change from the cramped space in the cabin.

Cas had bundled up into his coat and a few layers of shirts before take-off after receiving some advice from Rufus concerning the weather. At first he felt ridiculous in the billowy trench coat and layers of plaid flannel underneath. “I look like a lumberjack.” The trench coat seemed to help undo the lumberjack look. Someone swapped out his ridiculous cowboy hat, and for that he was grateful. Now he had on a tight fitting knit cap that came down over his ears. Dean hadn’t changed much. He’d been rather attached to his cowboy get up. 

Cas had managed to transfer Kevin from the saddlebag to the small messenger bag that he’d packed for the journey. He pulled the bag around to his front to look in at Kevin. Cas glanced around to see if he was being observed. The front of the walkway around the cabin had a space between the windows. He might be able to get some photos with Kevin without revealing too much.

“Kevin?”

“Yes, Commander Novak.” Kevin’s voice was soothing. 

“This will have to be quick.” 

“Understood.” 

Cas aimed him out at the land below. There were hills and creeks running here and there. They were heading for a large mountain range where Rufus, Pamela, and Dean felt they might find some encampments of the Leviathan. Pamela was convinced that she had spotted smoke in that region during a past flight with Rufus, so the three of them became convinced that it was worth exploring.

Kevin confirmed, “There is some smoke coming up from the valley between the mountains there. It is coming from a small, controlled burn.”

“Yeah, Pamela mentioned that region earlier. Any other signs of life?”

“Some. There are tracks to the valley from out on the plains in the south. Something is making regular journeys in and out of that region.”

Castiel continued to hold Kevin so that he could take in more images of the region. “Do you think that the tracks and smoke belong to the Leviathan?”

“We’re too far away to tell.”

Cas sighed. “What do you recommend that we do?”

“I recommend dropping large quantities of borax over the area; however, I’m not sure that such an offering would be appreciated by others either.”

“What is that?” Pamela asked. Neither of them had heard her come out onto the landing.

Castiel stuffed Kevin back into his bag. “It is a device that I use to record information.” He hoped that it would be enough. It seemed like it would be near impossible to explain an AI present in a tablet computer.

“It was talking.” Pamela stepped closer and pointed at the bag. “Can I see it?”

Castiel reached into the bag and pulled Kevin back out again. “Kevin, this is Pamela. She is our pilot today; however, she does not seem to be piloting the airship at present. We’ll likely die.” Cas smiled and looked from her to Kevin, hoping that humor would keep things from becoming too worrisome.

“Rufus is flying her.” She waved in the general direction of Rufus and the inside of the cabin.

Kevin said, “I’m pleased to meet you. I hope that my existence does not cause you much confusion or troubled thoughts.”

“I don’t understand...how?” Pamela reached out a hand toward Kevin, but Cas pulled him away. “I just wanted to know what it was made from.”

“It’s complicated,” Cas began. “Even where Dean and I come from, these are rare. In fact, there’s likely nothing quite like Kevin. He’s been helping me collect information that we hope will lead to Dean’s brother.”

“Where are you from? Because this isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen.” Pamela took a deep breath and added, “Rufus is the smartest fella I’ve ever met, and even he isn’t making talking windows.”

Castiel had to laugh at that. He looked down at Kevin and had to agree that he did somewhat resemble a small framed window. “Dean and I came here from a town called Houston. Dean lived in Kansas when he had more than a month between jobs. I lived in a place called Portland. We never really had much in the way of roots in any one space.”

“I ain’t heard of any of those places.”

Cas considered for a moment then decided to just be completely honest. “We’re not from this planet. We flew here in airships that can go beyond the atmosphere.”

“I’m going to pretend that makes a lick of sense.” She looked down at Kevin. “Where are you from, Kevin?”

“I’m from Earth, in the town of Houston, Texas. Specifically, I was created by Dr. Kevin Tran to act as a resource to Commander Castiel Novak as he sought out Commanders Sam and Dean Winchester.”

“And you are trying to help everyone defeat the creatures?” Pamela waved out at the vast land beneath them.

“I am. We detected some smoke in the valley that is west of us. There is also a trail that contains some tracks. I believe that there are Leviathan in the valley,” Kevin said.

Pamela nodded. “I’m gonna let Rufus know. I heard him tell you that we should drop borax on that area.”

“He did suggest that,” Cas said. “He also said that it would be unpleasant to those that aren’t Leviathan too, though.”

“Still, might be a risk worth taking.” Pamela stepped back toward the door. “Come in and help me with the guys. They might want to hear from your Kevin that the valley is the place.”

“It might be best if we limit the number of people that know about Kevin. It’ll take far too long to explain him to everyone.” Cas hoped that she’d see reason. He added, “Not everyone would accept his existence as easily as you did.”

There was silence for a moment. “I’ll leave it to you to decide who knows about that,” Pamela said, as Cas slipped Kevin back into the bag.

Once they discussed what they’d seen from the veranda, leaving out the bit about Kevin, Rufus decided that it would be best for them to land and set up camp while they waited for the others to join them. Pamela and Rufus hovered close to each other as they guided the airship to a small valley between two hills. There was a flat bit of land that they would settle upon once Rufus felt like they were lined up.

The ride to Levithan Central would be about an hour, but at least they thought they knew where the monsters were now. The plan was to get everyone to the camp, then split up to enter the Levithan’s valley from both ends at once.

Dean came to Castiel’s side and clapped him on the back, as they both looked out the window at the world that was getting closer. The engines made talking a difficult task. “I’m not sure this plan is aces,” Dean said.

“It’s something. Here’s to hoping we find Sam there.” Cas leaned into Dean a little. Dean leaned back into him. There was a bit of shared comfort. “Pamela knows about Kevin. She’s agreed to keep his presence secret. Said we could tell people as we saw fit.”

“She was okay with him? You didn’t have to explain what he was?”

Cas laughed, “Of course I had to explain, but it was a very pitiful explanation.”

Rufus moved past them and out onto the landing. He called back, “You all come out here and help me with the landing.”

They followed Rufus out, “Whatcha need, Rufus?” Dean called out. 

Rufus tossed Dean a rope, then another went to Cas. When we get close to the ground, jump out and find something to tie off on. I’ll get the other side. Be quick, and don’t wait until the last second.” That was all the instruction that they got. Rufus was off to the other side. Another fellow came out and went to Rufus, presumably to help with the landing.

“I was taught to remain in your vessel until it landed.” Cas laughed. “Pretty sure this runs counter to everything I’ve been taught.” 

Dean said, “What? It’s just jumping out of an airship without a parachute. No big deal.” They both laughed at that. “Wonder how close to the ground Rufus considers reasonable for the jumping.”

“He did say not to wait until the last second.” They heard a loud whoop then and leaned over the side to look. There was Rufus and the other guy, swinging from their ropes like two crazy Tarzans. 

Rufus hollored up, “Hurry up! We’ll be landing soon.” 

Dean slipped on some gloves that he had in his pocket. “Put your gloves on Cas. Looks like we’re doing this.”

“Not sure I’ve got this. Not really much for falling.” Cas looked over the side as he spoke. 

Dean settled a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be fine. We’re not that high up.” Dean climbed over the side and down the rope. He didn’t swing out like Rufus. He seemed to be exercising more caution.

Castiel closed his eyes a moment then followed him over the edge on his own rope. They were about twenty feet over the ground, and the ropes were dragging on the red dirt, kicking up dust clouds. They made their way down at a much more reasonable pace than Rufus and his friend.

“Hurry up!” Rufus called up from the ground. He was already wrapping his end of the rope around a nearby tree.

By the ten foot mark, both Cas and Dean were on the ground and rushing their ropes to trees. The ship was coming down at a slow and steady rate. Once it was landed and tied off, the rest of the crew came out. Pamela was laughing. “Didn’t think you boys would do it.”

“Huh?” Dean turned to her.

“That bastard is crazy as they come. You didn’t need to be going overboard.”

Rufus came over and clapped Cas on the back. “Yeah they did. These two boys needed to experience the rush.” He laughed and wandered away to give directions to those setting up the camp.

Pamela said, “Like I said, crazy.” She walked away laughing too.

“Remind me never to listen to that man again.” Castiel took off his gloves and wiped his hands on his pants then looked up at Dean. “We could just go take care of this on our own.”

“We don’t have the manpower.” Dean whipped his hat off and gave his brow a quick swipe. “How many you reckon are in the valley? Ten? Twenty? More?”

“Not sure. It seemed like a lot.” Cas pulled Kevin back out of the bag. “Hey Kevin, how many Leviathan do you think we’ll encounter in the valley?”

Kevin said, “If they are Leviathan, around thirty. There were many distinct tracks going in and several small campfires from various parts of the interior.”

“Thanks, Kevin.” Cas slipped him back into the bag. 

“See, we can’t handle that. I barely got out alive with just one.” Dean pressed his hat back to his head. 

“We have weapons against them now.” 

Dean sighed, “Yeah, and with the added help of Rufus and his posse, we’ll be unstoppable. Just you and me, not so much.”

Cas nodded. There was something about the recklessness though, that worried him. They had a mission, and it involved saving Sam. He hoped that they’d have enough subtlety to get in and out without losses.

Night fell, and the camp was quiet. Cas made his way over to the spot that Dean had selected for them. Their bedding was set up just a little outside of the crowd, beside a lush tree. A tiny campfire crackled in front of Dean.

Dean was sitting at the end of his bedding, staring out into the dark. Cas settled down on his own bedding and stared in the same direction. The night sky was littered with an abundance of stars. The twin moons, Phobos and Deimos were there too, small and glowing in the dark sky.  _ It has to be Mars, _ Cas thought again. He knew those moons like he knew so much of his own red planet. 

"Distract me," Dean whispered.

Cas turned to him and noticed the seriousness of Dean's face. His brows were drawn together, his eyes a little watery.

"Are you okay?" It was a dumb question, but Cas didn't know what else to say.

"No, Cas, I'm not. Distract me. Tell me something. I don't know. Help me stop worrying that he's…" Dean choked back his words.

Cas reached over and took Dean's hand. "One time in college, I pretended to be a psychic in order to make some money."

A small snort of a laugh escaped from Dean. “Yeah? Tell me about that.”

“Well, I guess things got a little rough in college. Didn’t have parents to call when the money ran low. I just had Gabe. He took me under his wing in college. Made sure I didn’t starve during the lean times.”

“Gabe, like Gabriel, Gabe?” Dean asked.

“Yep. Closest thing to family I’ve got.”

“What happened to your parents?” Dean was staring at him, and Cas felt the look burrowing deep within him.

“Not part of this story. Besides, it’s depressing. This story is about a guy who got conned into palm reading.”

“Okay, okay, tell me your story.”

Cas took a breath. He turned Dean’s hand over palm up. He traced along his life line, gently and seemed to concentrate on what was there. “So, Gabe decided to throw a theme party, all things were supposed to be supernatural in nature. Everyone had to be in costume. You could’ve been a ghost, an angel, a monster, whatever. He hired people to work the party too. He had a tarot card reader, a palm reader, magicians, and all sorts of people. He wanted everything to feel mystical. It was a phase he was in.”

“So, he hired you to read palms,” Dean stated all matter-of-factly. 

“Uh, not really. He hired someone who backed out the night before. So he called me for help. I asked how much the job paid. I think he wanted me to call around and find someone, but when he said the job paid $300 for the night, I didn’t call a soul. That was good money, and I learned fast when I had to.”

“You mean you just up and studied all there was to know about palm reading in one night?” Dean laughed now. The night was quiet and his laughter likely stirred some of the not so distant sleepers.

Cas lowered his voice as if to encourage quiet. “I did. I got some books and read through the night. I learned all there was to learn about the human palm.” A little smile lighted across Castiel’s face. “I showed up to that party and did my job. Gabe was even impressed. I had a line of potential customers the whole night. People even tipped me. It was a party, at a college, and people tipped me.”

“Shocking.” Dean laughed again, though it was decidedly quieter this time.

Cas traced over the lines of Dean’s hand and said, “You have a long life line. I suppose that means you aren’t going anywhere anytime too soon.”

“You don’t say.”

Cas continued to trace over Dean’s palm. “This is your sun line and your fate line. Can you see how they intersect?”

Dean squinted down at this palm. Cas traced the lines for him. “Sure. Is it bad that they intersect?”

“Not at all. It just means that you’re maybe going to have some prominence. I think the intersecting means that outside influences will have an effect on your notoriety and fate.”

“You're just saying that because you know me. I mean, you know I’m a little famous with the whole astronaut thing, just like you.” Dean leaned into him, and his shoulder pushed Cas off kilter just a little.

“I’m just telling you what the lines mean based on my countless hours of study and one night of practice.”

“Well, now two nights of practice.” They both laughed at that. “What’s this line mean?” Dean pointed at the highest horizontal line on his palm.

“Oh, that’s the heart line. Yours is unique. Most of the ones I looked at just ran straight across the top of the palm. Yours begins right under your index finger. It means you’re content in relationships when you’re in them. Then it has some breaks before it runs deep and long to the edge of your palm.”

“And that means?”

“You have close relationships with people. That comes from the depth of the line. The breaks mean that you’ve had a lot of partners or bonds.”

“You saying that line's calling me a hussy, Cas?”

Cas laughed a little. “No, not really. It’s not just about sexual relationships, though I have heard that you…” he paused then said, “meet a lot of people.”

“I guess I do.” 

“It doesn’t have any breaks after this part though.” Cas tapped the line. Dean looked down at it again. “And it runs the rest of the way, straight and true right off the edge.”

“Does that mean something?”

Cas hummed a little. “Maybe.” He lifted Dean’s hand and pressed his lips to Dean’s palm. “Maybe it means that you found one person to spend some time with. Maybe not a one-night stand or someone to just blow off some steam with. Maybe it means you’ll find someone more permanent, maybe when you get back home.”

Cas was still holding Dean’s hand, but it was now back down on the bedding. Dean leaned across the space between them and paused just a breath away from Castiel’s lips. “Maybe I won’t find someone. Maybe I already did.” Then Dean pressed in past the last bit of space. He kissed him softly on a hum of peace that rolled up Castiel’s throat. It was all they’d do this night, surrounded by so many strangers and a not so distant morning that could be difficult to say the least. But the kiss was nice. It was sweet and deep and promised something more.

Castiel’s heart pounded in his chest, steady and excited by the moment. Dean’s words echoed in his mind, chasing away the doubts he’d held before. Dean’s fingers raked back up into Castiel’s hair. It was something he had wanted before without ever realizing it was what he wanted.

Dean broke the kiss when it seemed like it could become something that was too much for this night. Cas tried to chase the kiss a little. Dean eased back into his bedding. He kicked off his shoes and laid down on his side. He lifted the edge a little and said, “Move your bedding over and we can share the blankets. It’s cold tonight.”

Cas felt warm, but it was a good warmth that he was happy to keep. He fixed the bed and got in alongside Dean. “You okay?” Cas asked.

Dean took Castiel’s palm and looked down at it. He traced the heart line. “Yours runs deep and doesn’t break.”

“It does.”

Dean looked at Cas, letting their eyes linger on each other. “I’m more than okay now.”

With morning came the noises of camp breaking up and Rufus shouting at any late risers. Luckily Cas and Dean pulled themselves together before he got to them. “Come get some coffee and a bite over at the fire. We’ll go over the plan.” Rufus strode away from them before he got a response. 

They got the camp packed up pretty quickly, and Rufus delivered the plan over bitter coffee and something like hardtack. They’d split up into three groups, one to take the north entrance to the canyon, one for the south. The third group would take the ridge and hopefully rain down some fury on the enemy from above. 

They were going to need a solid hour to get to what they believed was the enemy’s camp. The ride was rough as they were galloping for most of it. When they finally slowed down, it was only because they’d finally gotten to the splitting up point.

Dean and Cas decided to take the northern path. The ride through the valley was quiet. The men broke into smaller groups at the narrow parts. Dean and Cas ended up riding side by side. “I’d like to take the lead on this as we go in,” Dean said.

“I know, but Rufus wanted it this way. He said that these guys were his people and he trusted their instincts. Maybe we should too.”

“I’m not worried about their instincts. I’m worried about Sam.”

Cas nodded. They rode onward. A spooked bird made a wretched caw and burst from a nearby bush. A man stepped into the path in front of them. “Hello.” He waved at the riders in the front, as they all came to a halt. Dean craned his neck around the crowd trying to see who they’d encountered.

One of the men up front got down from his horse and approached. He dipped his hand in his bag, tied to the side of his horse. Dean squinted across the path. He couldn’t make out the man’s face. There was a scream of agony, then gunfire. Dean threw himself from his horse and raced to the front with Cas in his wake.

“What was it? Was it one of them?” Dean’s words ran over themselves.

“The new bullets worked well,” the guy that Rufus had picked as their leader, Curtis pronounced.

Dean came down to a squat and looked at the ugly black pile on the ground as it bubbled and hissed into nothingness. “Even when they’re dead, they’re nasty.”

“Let’s head out. This was just one, and I’m betting there’s more to contend with than this.” Curtis waved them back to their horses, and they headed out again.

“We’re on the right path, it seems.” Castiel threw a glance Dean’s way.

“It didn’t sound like Sam. They got other forms.”

Cas just hummed. The valley widened as they rounded a bend. The Leviathan were waiting for them. The gunfire must have echoed and warned them. Suddenly there was a hail of bullets raining down on them. They left the horses to run free of the gunfire and ran for cover wherever they could get it. 

“Cas!” Dean yelled from behind a very large boulder. “Get over here.”

Cas was out in the open, completely exposed, and only by some miracle he was not shot. He made a wild dash to Dean’s side. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Yeah, get your damn gun out. You trying to die on me?” Dean had his gun out, but couldn’t find anything to aim at. The shots seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere. 

Cas finally got with the program. He aimed up into the trees, one eye closed and fired. Something fell. “One down.”

Dean said, “How can you see them?”

“I’ve got really good vision. You should too if you’re a pilot.” Cas cocked his head to the side.

“Shit.” a bullet grazed Dean’s arm. He fell back low behind the rock. Cas sunk down next to him and gave the wound a look. 

“You’ll live. Stay down a sec.” Cas was back up and shooting. “Two, three, four.” Then he was back down. He ripped a chunk of fabric from the bottom of his shirt and tied it off on Dean’s arm. “Now you can help.”

Dean nodded. “I got some catching up to do.” Dean was up at his side. “One.”

The count went on. It felt like forever. There were clearly more than the estimated thirty that Kevin had predicted. A Leviathan would move ever so slightly in the trees or from behind a rock, and they’d take them down. Eventually, the gunfire died down to silence. They eased out of hiding. “They really scared off the horses,” Cas said.

“Yeah, well, we’ll live. Let’s see if we can find Sam.” They made their way past bodies that they checked for life. For most, it seemed, the end was quick. There were some that came away with injuries. Those they helped move to the shelter of some trees. A few men from the group stayed behind to tend to their wounds while Dean and Cas moved forward into the valley. There were the bubbing remains of those that were less than human running down the sides of the hill. Curtis was still tucked behind a rock when they found him. “You okay, man?” Dean asked.

“I think so. The men found some others and went after them. I’m covering the rear flank in case some more show up. I’ll be moving in soon.” 

Soon enough, they heard another volley of gunfire, and the distant yelp of pain that comes from being shot. It sounded like a smaller battle than the one they faced. When the valley opened up in front of them they saw a small camp. Men ran from trees to rocks, firing at each other. It was hard to tell who was human, and who was not. However, it was soon clear that nearly all of the men in the valley looked exactly like Sam. 

“You take the left side,” Dean called out to Cas as he ran. Cas followed the order.

Cas kept one eye on Dean as he shot at one Sam, then another. He waited for a sign that they were not Commander Winchester before he took aim. Dean disappeared behind an outcropping of rock. More gunfire was coming from that region.

The Sams seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. They were rushing down the mountainside where they had apparently been stationed on watch. They were coming into the clearing from around the bend between the mountains. They were crouched behind rocks and trees. They had guns and rifles firing in all directions. They must have been busy these past months preparing and stockpiling for the inevitable fight that would come to anyone that started stealing loved ones from their homes. Dean hoped that they hadn’t overestimated their chances today.

The gunfire took out members of their group until it seemed like it was just him and Dean and maybe one or two more. It was hard to tell who was left from their group with all the noise and chaos of gunfire. Cas knew that the Leviathan had them outnumbered though. And something in him snapped. He stood and rushed into the clearing, aiming and firing as he went. He was a deadly good shot. Years of practice when he was younger made him so. Sams fell left and right. He could hear Dean shouting in his wake. He didn’t take in the words. He just had to clear a path, even up the odds, do something to make it possible for them to have a win here. And Dean needed this win.

Cas felt the first nick of a bullet along his side. It burned harsh in the moment, but he was able to block the pain by focusing on his journey. There was a Sam behind a tree on his left. That Sam made the mistake of leaning out just a bit. Cas took him down. He heard the whizz of a bullet just past his head. He turned to see Dean taking down the shooter. “Good job,” Cas said as he turned back to the neck of the valley. There was likely more valley beyond the bend, but he wanted to push them back to that narrow point. It’d be like shooting fish in a barrel.

“Cas, you son of a bitch, take cover!” Dean was shouting at him, but Cas couldn’t be bothered. He was going to stop them. He was going to end this. He was going to make sure Dean got his brother back or die trying. 

The Sams were trickling into the valley now. Cas took cover behind a boulder, his back to the mountain. He shot several Sams on the hillside. Dean was still sheltered back where they had been at the start. Others from the posse were crouched behind trees and rocks, taking out Sams that came into view. None of these ones could be their Sam. They moved with a certain stiffness, a certain inhuman quality. And even at a distance, Cas could see the coldness in their eyes. 

Cas called out, “I’m going forward! Cover me!”

“No, Cas! God damn it!” Dean was yelling, but Cas was already going for the bottleneck. 

The Sams weren’t coming through anymore, but they might be waiting on the other side. It’d be the smart thing to do.  _ It’s what I’d do. _ Cas thought. He edged along the mountainside and caught a glimpse of what was beyond. Not a bunch of Sams, but instead an organized camp, a few lean-tos and some still smouldering fires. There were many places to hide. The place would be ideal for an ambush. Cas moved toward it like he had nothing to worry about. He wasn’t immortal, but he sure felt like it.

The trees in this part of the valley were familiar and also not familiar at all. There were trees like redwoods and pines, all wide and tall and thick with foliage. Then there were others, like nothing he’d seen. The wide trunk that ran up to some sparse branches fluffy with leaves looked like something he remembered seeing online and in books, the baobab trees found in Madagascar. Cas rushed to stand behind one of the fat trunks of one of the Martian baobabs. He could hear Dean shouting at him, a string of curses and then the sound of running.

Dean couldn’t just sit there. Yet there were still Leviathan shooting on this side of the valley. All of a sudden, a clumsy body slammed into his side as he crouched behind a boulder. “Garth!”

“Took out two on the way over. The trees over yonder are filled with the buggers,” Garth said between big gulping breaths. He was pointing his gun out toward the far line of trees. Dean could see movement there. He could also hear gunfire from just past the bend. “We should inch up on them. Cover each other, right?”

Dean was still scanning the land. “Yeah. I’m gonna head for that tree, then the boulder over there. You cover and then follow.”

Garth nodded and said, “You got it.” 

Dean waited a beat, then he was off. He bolted through the thinning stand of trees, hearing Garth firing off shots in his wake. A bullet whizzed by, but he got to the tree unscathed. He looked back to Garth and saw him nod. He ran off again toward the next stop. The shots were less now. He scanned the tree line from the boulder. He could hear gunfire coming from around the bend, from where Cas was. Garth was ready to head for the tree. Dean watched for danger. He gave Garth a wave and waited for him to rush from cover. 

A shot rang out from the other side. Dean saw the culprit and took him down. When he turned back to Garth, he could see that he’d made it to the tree. “You okay?” Dean called out.

Garth slumped over a bit. “Got me.” It wasn’t a shout, but Dean heard him loud and clear. He rushed back through the trees. No bullets followed his path. He wondered if they’d cleared this side of the valley. He got to Garth and crouched down at his side. Garth pulled back his hand to reveal a shot to his upper thigh.

“Let me take a look at it.” Dean lifted Garth’s leg just a little and peered at the other side. “Bullet went clean through. That part’s good.”

“Yeah, just hurts like the devil though.” He went back to pressing his hands to the wound. 

Dean ripped the lower half of his shirt and made a quick bandage of it to wrap around Garth’s leg. “Will you be okay here if I go on through the valley? I’m worried Cas is getting himself killed.”

“I’m good.” He paused, though, and looked down at his gun.

“What?”

“I’m out of bullets. I went to shoot while I was running, and that’s when I noticed.”

Dean handed him his own gun. “Here. I’ve only got three more myself. Make good use of them.”

Before Garth could decline, Dean was off. The bend was out in the open, but no shots came his way. He ran through to the other side. He found cover behind what must have been an old hunting cabin. It was small and falling apart. He could see Cas in the distance. A group of Sams were shooting in his direction from behind buildings. One of the group didn’t have a gun. He did have a long plank that he was dragging with him as he moved across the open space. 

Dean could have taken him down with a gun easy. As it was, he needed a weapon of some sorts. He watched as Cas took down one Sam then another. Then he noticed the hillside behind Cas. There was movement, but Cas was far too focused on the fight in front of him. Something was coming for him. Dean decided then and there, that he had to just rush it.

The run was all out in the open until the next clump of oddly wide trees. The Leviathan was nearly on him. The creature raised his gun, perhaps looking for a nice up close kind of kill. Dean slammed into him as the gun went off, taking the slug low in his ribs. 

The creature was scrambling out from under Dean. Its gun flung off into the distance. In an instant, Cas was in the mix, rolling around in the dirt with the beast. The creature’s face morphed into some sort of elongated mess, fangs, long and sharp, crowded the stretched out open mouth as it fought to tear Cas apart. It snapped at Cas viciously. Cas was tossed to the side, hitting the base of a tree trunk hard. His gun went off as it went soaring free of his hand.

Dean was finding breathing hard. He tried to move his body away from the creature that was looming over him now. It was hard to call it a smile, but the stretched out face that was once Sam’s face seemed to do just that. I thin line of drool poured from its mouth.

“Yum,” it said in a wet gurgle.

Cas had apparently felt like he was immortal again, because now all Dean could see was Cas fully over his body, shielding him from the Leviathan. It was a feral protective stance, that couldn’t win, but he sure seemed willing to go down fighting. Dean could see Castiel’s mouth split wide in what was a menacing grin. The words that fell from him were startling. “You might want to think twice about trying me, beast.” He had no weapon, no chance in hell of beating this monster, but the words growled from his lips seemed to give the Leviathan pause.

It moved back ever so slightly. Dean saw movement in the trees behind them. If he said something, Cas would look either at him or toward the movement in the trees. Either way, breaking the gaze would lead to the creature leaping onto them. Dean could see it all going down. His ribs ached with each breath. He wanted to move, to do something. He was braced for something, but he couldn’t decide what would happen first. Would Cas lunge forward and start the fight anew? Would the creature behind the trees dive in and join the fray, effectively outnumbering them? Dean figured he had a little fight in him, but he hardly thought he’d count when all hell broke loose.

Time passed slow with the hard steady beats of his heart pounding in his ears. The sun was dipping behind the ridge now, and Dean felt cold. He looked up at Cas, his chin rough with a day’s growth of stubble. The creature decided to take its chances with a leap that was meant to sink its wide mouth into Castiel’s shoulder.

The world was swimming in front of Dean’s eyes or maybe he was slipping away, but he swore he saw something slam into the face of the Leviathan. There was too much to follow as his vision started tunneling.

Castiel hovered over Dean’s bleeding body. He needed to end this quickly and stop Dean’s bleeding. He wanted to move a hand, press firmly over the wound, but the moment felt too tense for movement. 

There was fear in the eyes of the Leviathan. Cas had killed many of his fellow monsters. Surely he saw that. The fear was well placed. Cas had no weapon though, no means of doing more than slowing it down on its path toward Dean. 

Cas sensed movement to his right and somewhat behind the creature. The creature did not seem to notice it. One of them would need to break the stare-off. Cas decided that it might have to be him. His muscles tensed. He could feel Dean’s labored breathing beneath him, but he dared not look. Then the creature lunged at him. Before Cas could process the moment, someone struck out at the Leviathan with a long plank, sending the creature flying back into the red dust. 

Shaking off his hesitation, Cas leapt into the fight. The dust clouded the fight in red. Cas felt the sharp knick of a bite graze his arm. He rolled and got separated from the bodies that fought. He was carrying a small bag of the borax tied off next to his holster. Cas freed the bag and reached in. He got a solid handful of the borax dust and tossed it into the fight.

The screams of the Leviathan were ear piercingly loud. A voice rang out of the dust now too. “I’ve got him pinned. Bring on more of that stuff!” 

Cas scrambled over to the writhing action. Sam was pinning down the creature. Blood ran down the side of his head to his jaw. “Winchester?” Cas almost couldn’t believe it.

“Novak,” Sam said with a grin. “Maybe some of that powder now…”

“Of course.” Cas snapped out of his momentary shock and upended the bag of borax straight into the creature's mouth. The end was quick and messy. The black goo it left behind coated both he and Sam quite thoroughly.

Sam moved back to Dean's side. "He's passed out. We need to stop the bleeding." Sam looked down at his tainted clothes. "Got anything clean enough on ya?"

Cas was just as filthy. Luckily, Rufus and Pamela came through the clearing, guns raised at Sam. "He's not one of them!" Cas jumped in front of Sam. 

"Yeah, well he sure as hell looks just like those bastards!" Pamela shouted. She advanced closer and kept her gun on them.

"Look," Cas said as he held out his hand which was still covered in borax. He pressed it to Sam's cheek. "No sizzling goo monster." Cas moved toward her then. "They've been copying him. He's Dean's brother."

Rufus nodded and they both lowered their guns. "We should get him some medical before he bleeds out," Rufus said as he looked at Dean. It was enough to get everybody moving and helping. “Where’s Garth? He normally does our patch jobs.”

Cas waved back toward the other side of the valley. "I think Dean was working with Garth back there in the first clearing. There were survivors, but most were quite injured."

Cas looked back down at Dean. His eyes were closed now, and his face had become rather pale. “You better be fighting, Dean.” He leaned down and pressed his forehead to Dean’s.

A hand settled on Castiel’s back. He looked up into the calm, sad eyes of Sam Winchester. “My brother’s always been a fighter. He certainly won’t give up. I promise you that.”

“Seems to me that the Winchesters don’t really know how giving up actually works.”

“We really don’t.” And they shared a small smile between them.


	6. Healing

Getting Dean back to the airship had been difficult, but as Sam said countless times, it was not nearly as difficult as keeping a partially healed Dean in bed during his recovery. Once he even thought he had recovered a little, Dean was champing at the bit to wander around the ship and even outside. 

Sam and Cas considered hog tying a viable option, or so they told Dean. Dean made it clear that that would not go well. Sam and Cas seemed to fall into a comfortable pattern with each other, and their mutual desire to see Dean healed helped to bond them both in a quick friendship. Dean was sure that he’d get no peace as long as the two of them kept up their mission to mother hen him into good health.

They’d left Rufus and the posse fairly soon after Dean’s surgery and a small convalescence aboard the airship. Rufus flew them back “home” to their own ship once it was deemed safe enough to move Dean that much. They decided that sharing the truth about who they were with Rufus was the right, honest thing to do. So after Dean was settled into his room on the ship, Sam and Cas gave Rufus, Pamela, and Garth a simple tour. There was much more explanation than they had expected, and at the same time, there was an awful lot of acceptance too.

And like that, months fell by the wayside. Months of mother henning Dean, months of updating Kevin’s data, months of casually hunting wayward Leviathan, and the men of the Impala had a routine. 

In all that time though, they never established a clear cut end plan. It seemed to be assumed that they’d all leave for Earth together just as soon as Dean was deemed well enough. He and Cas were still working on the whole ‘what are we to each other’ thing. Of course they didn’t talk about it directly, which was working out not at all. In their defense they never really had much in the way of privacy. Dean was set up on a makeshift bed in the main room of the Impala. His usual room was up a small ladder past a hatch, but he wasn’t deemed well enough to go back to climbing ladders to his room all the time. 

Dean woke one morning to the glorious smell of bacon. As his temporary room was right in the middle of everything, he could even witness the miracle that was Sam cooking. It had been Cas that had taken up this role on most days, and before Mars it had been Dean’s task.

“You’re up.” Sam turned a little and gave Dean a smile. “Figured I’d cook up the bacon and eggs that Robert brought us the other day.

Dean swung his legs out of the cot and got up. “Won’t turn that down.”

“You can stay in bed if you want.” Sam was already coming over to direct him back to the bed.

“Back off, mom. I’m fine. In fact, you and Cas maybe need to ease up a little.” Dean took a seat at the small table that they used for all of their meals. Sam started scooping eggs onto a plate and then added some bacon. “This is heaven.” Dean picked up a strip of bacon.

“Glad you approve.” Sam scooped some eggs onto his own plate and added a little bacon to it too. He joined Dean at the table and started diving into the food. “Cas is out with Kevin. He said he wasn’t hungry yet.”

“Guy practically lives out there with Kevin,” Dean said around a mouthful of eggs. “Can’t see what all he’s gonna find out there that he hasn’t already found.”

“He just wants to be sure to get as much information as possible to bring back home. It’s not like we are guaranteed a return visit.”

Dean set his fork down. “Why not?”

“Well, this is going to be a hell of a big deal back home. I mean, we travelled to another dimension. We found other life. They have protocols for all of this. Like protocols that we broke without a second thought. They’ll likely be reluctant to send us back.”

Dean let all of that swirl through his head. He hadn’t even considered that leaving wouldn’t come with a return. He’d just assumed a whole lot of things. Sam was right though. They had plenty of other options coming up in the ranks. And he wasn’t getting any younger. His age alone would be a limiting factor soon enough. It’s why he’d considered being part of the Mars Colonization program before their last mission. 

Sam interrupted his thoughts. “No one said we had to go back.” He paused a moment, then added, “I’m going back, but you have options.”

“Pretty sure we’re a team.”

Sam nodded and said, “And I think you might have another team too.”

  


“What’s that mean?” Dean glanced away toward the porthole and caught a glimpse of Cas chatting away with Kevin out on the hill. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. He wants to stay, I think, but he’s not saying it. He seems to be waiting for you to say it first. If you don’t, he’ll just follow you right on home.”

“I’m not ready to watch you go off without me. I just got you back.” As confessions go, this was a lot for Dean. Sam was his world. After the loss of their parents, Dean fell into the role of father, mother, brother, and friend. His every choice had been focused on giving Sam what he needed to make his life full and meaningful, and now here he was on some sort of precipice.

“I have to get back to Eileen. I might be able to work something out that’ll get me back, but it’ll have to be with her.” Sam was running his fork around his plate in swirls.

“She’s not a pilot. Why would they let her come here?” 

“They might want to send up a colony, a small one. If they could get over all the protocols we broke they might let me sign on with a spouse. I mean, that is if she still was waiting for me. It’s been forever. She might think I’m dead.” Sam finally set his fork down.

“I bet she’s been waiting for you. You two were good for each other. I didn’t know you were thinking of getting hitched though.” Dean reached across the table. He set a hand on Sam’s. “Congratulations.” 

“She hasn’t said yes yet.” He smiled though. “So, you see, it might just be temporary. Maybe.”

“We have two ships.”

Sam nodded. “We do have two ships. You could extend your time here pretty easy.”

“I could.” Dean looked back out the window. “We could.”

“You should talk to him about it.”

Dean pulled his hand back and then raked back his hair. It was getting a little longer than he wanted. “Not sure where to start. What makes you think he wants to stay?”

“Call it a hunch. He loves this place. You can see it if you just watch him out there for a bit.” Sam sighed and added, “Like I said though, he’d go where you go, no questions.”

“I’m not so sure. We haven’t really talked about things. I mean, he and I, it’s complicated.”

“I have eyes.”

“Yeah, well, we ain’t been giving you any sort of show.”

Sam laughed, “Like hell you have.” He laughed some more. “There’s so much tension rolling around you two that I could cut it with a knife. He watches you while you sleep, and it’s not like he’s doing it just to make sure you keep breathing either. He’s lost on ya.”

“You always were a sap. Listen, me and Cas, we aren’t like that, all chick-flick. We just blow off some steam together and then pal around. Most of the time we spent together was either looking for you or hanging out here while I was healing.”

“What’s your point?”

Dean rolled his eyes and said, “It ain’t like you and Eileen, okay. He just…” Dean stopped not sure how to finish the sentence. 

“He just, what?”

“I think he just might find me convenient. I mean, what other options does he really have out here?”

“You could test the theory.”

“What theory?”

Sam rolled his eyes now. And like he was talking to a child, he lowered his voice into a tone of quiet comfort. “Now Dean, you said he just found you convenient. Tell him that you want to go home. See what he says. Then change your mind. Tell him you’re gonna stay. I bet you good money, he changes plans right along with you.”

Dean got up and stuck out a hand. “You got a bet.”

Dean was surprised that Sam let him leave the ship without a fight. Maybe the bet made Sam feel like taking chances. Once Dean was at the bottom of the ladder, Sam finally tucked back into the ship. Dean raised a hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the sun. Cas was still up at the top of the hill that ran high alongside the ship. Dean walked along the path that snaked its way up the side of the hill.

Cas didn’t see him. Dean managed to surprise him a little, even getting a jump out of him. “Didn’t know you could be startled.”

“Guess I was too focused on my work.” Cas smiled and set down his satchel and Kevin.

Dean opened his own bag and handed Cas a sandwich. “Sam said you weren’t hungry, but I brought you food anyway. Figured you don’t know what’s good for you.”

“That would be you.” Cas waved at the path. “Sam let you make that walk?”

“He’s not my mom, though you are both competing for that role.”

Cas sat down on a low, flat rock and patted the space beside him. “Sit with me.” Dean was pretty sure Cas just wanted him to sit because he was worried about him overexerting himself. “Want some?” Cas held out the sandwich. 

“Nah, I’m good.” Dean focused on the shiny black of the Impala and waited for words to find him. “Guess we’ll be going home soon.”

“We will. I am happy to have gotten the time to conduct more research with Kevin, though I’m not glad that you got shot to provide the time.”

Cas wasn’t really eating his sandwich, so Dean said, “Eat.” Dean folded his hands in front of him. “Sam’s gonna ask Eileen to marry him when he gets home.”

“I figured as much. He talks of her often.”

Dean watched him for a moment before saying, “I didn’t know they were that close yet. I mean, I know he liked her a lot. She’s great. I just didn’t know.”

“I imagine you were preoccupied with all of your missions. It’s easy sometimes to not see what’s right in front of you.” 

“I think you might be right there.” Dean got up and walked a few steps away from the rock. He looked out over the other side of the hill, to the long stretch of red land between them and town. He couldn’t even see a hint of the buildings from this far off, but it was enough to just know it was there. “I think I want to stay here.”

Cas got up and moved to his side. “It’s a viable option.” Castiel’s arm was right up against Dean’s. “Come sit back down.” Cas took his hand and pulled him back to the rock to sit again. Dean didn’t want to sit, but he did. He felt the energy in his body rocketing around him. “I could stay with you.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to.”

“You wouldn’t have to do that. I’d volunteer.”

“You feel obligated or something?”

“Or something.” Cas leaned in and kissed him. It was more than what Dean had gotten out of him in months. Understandably. Afterall, Dean was always within a line of sight of Sam or at least within hearing distance. He certainly wasn’t looking to have an audience for his love life, or whatever this was. And yet, here was Cas, making the most of a moment.

His lips dragged over to Dean’s jawline, then his neck. And just as it was starting to go somewhere, Cas pulled away. “Rude,” Dean said.

Cas just smiled. “So we’re staying.”

“Looks like it.” And Dean cupped Castiel’s cheek in his hand and leaned back in to taste him again.

Watching Sam go was the hardest part of the healing. Dean hadn’t known it, but he’d never learned what it was like to let someone go that wasn’t passing on toward a grave. True, people left him, but they were casual people, one’s he’d never invested in. This time though, it was Sam. He was struggling not to change his plans. He had to be reminded over and over that they had a ship that could take them home any time.

“I’ll be fine. Castiel has a fine ship. We went over it a hundred times. We even fixed the landing gear up better than ever.” Sam had to make the same explanations, provide the same comfort over and over. “I’ll see you soon,” he finally said as he climbed up into Castiel’s ship. 

Dean and Cas found a space a safe distance from the ship, and they watched it launch. The ship ripped through the sky, a long white plume of smoke left behind in its wake. Dean swiped at his eyes. He wasn’t crying he told himself. It was the dust. Cas set a hand on his back. “He’ll come back to us.”

“I bet he’ll do just like he said and bring Eileen here too.” Dean said the words toward the sky and the tiny speck that carried Sam away. “Be safe.”

They rode the rest of the way back in silence. Once they were back to the Impala, they settled in for the night. It was the start of something, but it was also an end. Dean climbed the ladder to his old room. Somehow, he managed to keep Cas from complaining about the added strain Dean was putting on himself while he was healing.

Dean kicked off his shoes and eased into his bed. Cas had followed him and copied his manner of undressing. He sat across from Dean in the bed and just watched him. Dean asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna watch you sleep.” Dean was reminded of what Sam had said about Cas and his watching.

“Nope, that’s creepy. Come over here.” Dean lifted the covers, and thankfully Cas got in. He let Dean have the big spoon role. Somehow it must have been obvious that he needed to be the one holding on. They drifted off to sleep like that, and Dean did his best to cry only a little, and Cas did his best to let him without comment, ‘cause sometimes that’s just what’s needed.


	7. The End

New routines were established. The more Dean healed, the more Cas let him do. He even let Dean go on a simple hunt. They had decided that they needed to clear their Mars of all the Leviathan. They found stragglers and took them out when they could. It seemed like they were making good progress. They’d only found one in the last month. 

In their visits with both Robert and the Elysium Mons crowd they began hearing more and more that the Leviathan seemed to be gone. They still hunted though. As Cas had said, “We brought them here. We gotta take them out.”

Dean agreed. It was also good to have a purpose that pulled him out into the world. They talked of building up a ranch at the front end of their valley. They even discussed adding a large barn in which they could hide the Impala from prying eyes. These were good plans, long term plans, plans that made Dean feel settled and warm.

Still, most evenings, as the sun was setting, he’d find himself outside staring up at the sky as the first stars began to show. He looked for the hole in the universe that would send him Sam again. He didn’t regret staying. He just wanted to have this life and his brother too. Somehow he still believed that it would all work out in the end.

One evening as they were riding back from town and a late dinner with both Robert and Garth, Dean stopped his horse mid-gallop. They were still about twenty minutes from home, but something sparked up the sky. “Cas!” Cas came back to Dean’s side. They both stared up at the dark and what seemed to be a falling star, or maybe a ship.  _ Too soon to tell. _

“You think it’s…” Cas started.

“Don’t know. It’s been enough time, right?” It had been over a year at that point. The journey would take six months each way.

Cas leaned into him. It was as much comfort as could be offered from on horseback. “If they didn’t deliberate much, then yeah. They’d have needed to get rid of the Leviathan he’d picked up on the way back through though. I can’t believe they’d be that fast about a return trip, but…” Cas trailed off. Dean couldn’t pay attention fully anyway. It might be Sam.

They just kept staring up, wondering. “It’s a ship,” Dean finally declared. “It’s gotta be Sam.”

They started the ride toward home, hoping that the landing would be close. It wasn’t coming in hot like Castiel had before. That was a plus. Control was always a good thing. “We need to get back faster, get a bit more borax. He might be covered in the bastards,” Cas said.

With that, they picked up the pace. It was all rushing and excitement after that. Dean called out as they rushed into the Impala, “You think he brought Eileen?” Then a moment later, “Shit, this place is a mess. You never clean.”

Cas replied to that, “You live here too, Dean.” They stood out under the sky full of stars, and waited. The ship was coming to them. “I made sure that Kevin had all the coordinates when I sent him with Sam. They would use that to come right back to us.” 

Dean reached over to Cas and straightened his collar. The moons were nice and bright above them. “If it’s someone else, what do we do?”

“We trust each other, and we improvise. It’ll be fine. They might want the Impala back, but I can’t see how they could be mad about much else.”

Dean hadn’t thought of that. “You think they’d come here just to take her back?”

Cas shrugged then said, “That’s my ship.” The glowing white ship came to a smooth landing some distance from them. A blast of white shot out of the top of the ship, blanketing the whole thing in a fog.

“That’s new.” Dean and Cas rode toward the ship. As they drew closer they could see, the black goo of the Leviathan writhing on the ground below. “Guess they didn’t need our help.” He and Cas dismounted and held onto the reins of their horses while they waited.

The hatch opened and the ladder descended. Dean looked up and held his breath, hoping past a squint that it’d be Sam. Dean felt the smile blooming on his face even before Sam’s fluffy mop made a full appearance. “You got room for a few more,” Sam called down happily. Then, before Dean could answer, Sam shouted, “Leviathan!”

Dean and Cas turned to find a large mass of black goo and teeth ready to lunge at them. And just as suddenly as it was all noticed the world froze.

A hand settled on Dean's shoulder. "Don't worry. It won't hurt you now."

Dean shook his head, and though he could move, he didn't know what to do. The Leviathan was frozen mid leap, right in his face with its frightening mouth of fangs ready to bite into him. Dean turned his head slowly toward the hand on his shoulder, which he followed up an arm to a face. 

It was a friendly face, light brown hair framing it along with a kind set of eyes. The man smiled. "Who are you?" Dean asked.

"You can call me Chuck, Dean." Then Chuck turned his attention to Cas, who was frozen in what looked like a moment of action, face set in a look of fierce determination. "Guess I'll let you in on this too." Chuck set a hand on Cas, and movement returned swiftly.

Cas got ahold of Dean and froze again, this time from surprise. Cas seemed to notice right away that the world wasn't moving. "Are you okay?" he managed to ask Dean.

"Yeah," was all Dean could reply. He looked up at the frozen, worried face of his brother. He shook his head again, trying to get sense back into place. "Did we die? Is this the end?"

Chuck laughed. "No, but that's a reasonable question given who you are." Chuck waved them further away from the Leviathan. "Let's talk. I haven't decided how to deal with you yet."

“He said his name’s Chuck,” Dean whispered into Castiel’s ear. “What’s going on?”

Cas moved his body just slightly in front of Dean’s once Chuck stopped walking. “Funny how things can be so different, but then moments like this remind me that some things can never be different.” Chuck waved a hand at them, and seemed to be signifying the togetherness of them both. “I’ve made countless worlds, set you both on very different paths. I’ve given parents and taken them away, a brother or a sister, a broken angel or a demon." At that he looked first at Cas, then at Dean. "Hardly seems to matter what I throw at you two. You both change the game, find each other, ooze back into the mold that is Dean and Castiel.”

Castiel stared in silence like he was actually processing all of this. Dean wasn’t capable of maintaining silence. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Chuck’s eyes snapped to Dean, and for a moment, he did not seem pleased with the outburst. He snapped his fingers, and Dean found it impossible to speak. “Please, Dean, I’m trying to work out how to deal with this.” He waved his hands about again, this time over his head. “You see, I made this a world without demons, without angels, and especially without Winchesters. And then suddenly, you all show up here, dragging Leviathan in your wake and messing up the one peaceful world I’ve formed. It was boring, sure, but it was a nice break from the norm for me.”

Dean looked at Cas, his face panic-stricken. Chuck snapped his fingers again. Dean let out a little yelp. “What the hell…” he didn’t finish the sentence once he noticed the look in Chuck’s eyes.

Cas finally found words though. “What are you?”

“I’m Chuck, but I’ve been called God too. I don’t like that. Sounds pretentious. Everyone likes Chuck. No one assumes Chuck is gonna do a thing. He gets a pass.”

“And you don’t want us to be here?” Cas asked.

“I don’t know what I want. I know I want to be able to find a little peace, a little quiet. This place was my quiet. No one prays much here. They have no sense of a creator that fixes things; although, I made all of this. I’ve left them largely alone. It has been nice. They have their churches, but they just worship without demands.”

“Will you unfreeze them?” Dean asked as he nodded up to his still frozen brother and the shadowy form of a person that was behind him.

“Your brother and his wife?” Chuck looked up toward Sam. “Like I said, I’m still deciding. I could send you all back to your world, close off this portal, and be done.” Chuck began pacing. “You haven’t entirely ruined this place. That’s impressive. You’re both far less destructive than your counterparts in other worlds. In one world you took on the monumentally stupid task of raising the son of Lucifer. In another Dean decided to work in a high rise and eat only health food. In yet another world there’s an apocalypse and you all live out your days in a sad military compound.”

“So you’re saying that there’s more than one of each of us?” Dean asked.

“So many,” Chuck said. “You Winchesters are a lot of work. And don’t even get me started on Castiel here.” He laughed a little. I’ve raised you all up from the grave so many times. You’d both credit luck before you’d credit me, but it was always me.” Chuck approached Dean then and said, “Despite everything. Despite how you’ve betrayed me in that other world, I still can’t seem to be done with you, with any of you.” Chuck waved a hand back at Sam.

Castiel took Dean’s hand in his, gave it a squeeze. “What do you want with us?” Castiel asked.

Chuck had to think for a moment before answering. “I made a whole world of people, but none of them were quite so fascinating as the Winchesters and the angel that chose to fall again and again for them. Well, for Dean.”

“Again, what do you want with us?” Castiel interrupted.

“Maybe I don’t want anything. Maybe I just wanted to finally say goodbye.” Chuck looked over at the Leviathan, still frozen in mid leap. He snapped his fingers, and it was gone. “No sense leaving all this trouble here.” He reached up and pressed the heel of his one hand to the space just below the front of the opposite shoulder, like he was in pain there.

Dean said, "Please," but in that one word he was asking for the world. Cas was trying to pull Dean behind him. Dean finally said, "Stop it Cas. Let me face this." 

Cas nodded and then looped an arm around Dean's waist. "I love you, Dean." The words were quiet and sincere as they faced Chuck. 

Dean smiled and said, "I know." 

"Wow, possibly our last moment. Wow." Cas side-eyed Dean, but didn't let him go.

"You've seen  _ Star Wars _ . You know it means the same thing." Dean squeezed Cas to him a little more. "Well Chuck, you gonna get it over with?" Chuck didn't respond right away, so Dean turned to face Cas. "It was a good run. No regrets. I'm glad I got this with you. Just wish it had been longer."

"Me too."

They both turned back to Chuck as he raised his hand and prepared to snap them away just as he had the Leviathan. "Goodbye," Dean whispered. Chuck didn't snap though. Instead he sighed and tipped his head back. 

Everything in Dean was angry that he was getting robbed of this new life, of time with Cas, of time with Sam again. It was all so much. It was going to be a great life, and yet here he was playing witness to its end.  _ Guess this is just par for the course, _ he thought.  _ Lose your parents, lose friends, lose nearly everyone you ever loved. _

Dean imagined the future. He imagined all the years in a moment, waking with Cas in his arms, watching Sam building a life with Eileen, raising kids that somehow were his… He considered fighting. He considered prayer, but hey, this was God. In the end, he turned back to Cas, cupped his face in his hands, and kissed him long and deep. _Oh well. At least I had_ _this_. When the kiss ended, Dean spared a glance at Chuck and said, "You gonna do it or what?"

Then Chuck leveled his gaze on Dean and said, "Nah, let's see how this one plays out." And with a smile he disappeared and the world moved again.

  
  
  


\--End--

**Author's Note:**

> As always thank you for any kudos you feel like leaving and any kind words. You can also find me on Tumblr under the name [Spearywritesstuff](http://spearywritesstuff.tumblr.com/) or more often on Twitter under the name [Spearywrites](https://twitter.com/spearywrites)


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